Falling
by amycakes
Summary: Stefan is falling off the wagon, out of love with Elena and into the grasp of a mysterious vampire named Klaus that he swears he's met somewhere before. Klefan.
1. One

New story! Ok, so I wanted to tackle Ripper!Stefan so this is kind of a personal challenge and I would love your feedback. Will be multi-chapter but definitely shorter than _All At Once_.

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>Falling Off the Wagon<br>_

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><p>The first time he tasted Elena's blood was after he'd been tortured by the tomb vampires. At the time it had barely registered to him, he'd been so badly wounded and the danger of Frederick had sidetracked him completely. Only later, once he'd torn the other vampire to pieces did he think back on the incident and how badly it could have gone.<p>

As it was he didn't come out unscathed.

The taste of her blood, however small in it's amount had his gums aching every time the memory resurfaced. It wasn't that Elena was special, or at least he didn't think so. It was merely the fact that human blood, fresh from the vein, hot and smooth in his mouth...was exquisite. And he wanted more.

Damon kept a steady supply of human blood in the basement of the boarding house and while the donor bags weren't the same as feeding fresh, they held a much larger appeal than animal blood in every way and Stefan found if he heated them in the microwave he could imagine that he was drinking from soft, supple flesh and not recycled plastic.

Not only was the taste better but he felt better. He'd always thought Damon was wrong for keeping a steady diet of human blood, but honestly, Stefan understood now. It was fine to be self-righteous and feel guilty about your nature when you didn't remember the taste of human blood, but you don't know at the time what you're missing.

It was how they were meant to be. And in Stefan's opinion that was confirmed by the fact that their powers of compulsion were heightened when they were on a proper diet. After all, a vampire could easily feed from a human and compel them to forget it completely – no harm no foul, everybody wins right? Of course that didn't really work for Stefan because the more human blood he drank, the more he wanted it and he couldn't stop.

It was hard just to walk down the street without tearing someone's trachea out these days. The wind would blow back a young woman's hair, just enough to showcase her neck enticingly and he would have to force himself to turn the other way, to walk in the opposite direction and not compel the girl to leave with him quietly.

And then there was Elena. He'd look at her and feel so guilty. Young, impressionable Elena. She'd seen him at his worst when he'd killed Fredrick but she still believed the best of him. If only she knew. Every time he looked at her guilt rose up through his chest and choked him and it wouldn't stop until he was out of her presence altogether. He was spending less and less time with her just to avoid the feeling.

She had noticed something was up of course – her and Damon both. He felt all around _bett__er_ and it showed. Although his brother soon found out why, Elena went on without a clue and what irritated Stefan the most was that she called him on it. She was irked by his new attitude, it was as if she was annoyed he was happier and that started a burning in the bottom of his gut that he couldn't fan out.

When the founder's day kick off party came around he was having more fun than he'd had in the last fifty years, dancing around and just generally enjoying the party. While Elena once again noted the difference she didn't say anything until they bumped into Duke. He was helping her out really, he couldn't see why she had a problem with it. Compelling Duke to apologise didn't hurt him or anyone else, but it was a lesson he deserved to be taught and it was for her benefit anyway! Apparently none of that mattered though because vampire compulsion was 'bad'.

He was beginning to think at that point that Katherine's look-a-like was hanging around with the Bennett witch too much. She was becoming so judgemental of him all the time and though she wasn't vocal about it, every little thing he did seemed to set off the disapproval in her eyes.

The kicker of course, was the Miss Mystic Falls Pageant.

He didn't care if Elena found out he was still drinking human blood, Damon knew after all and he wouldn't have kept it to himself for long anyway, not while he was still making goo-goo eyes at Elena. He was getting tired of his "I'm clean" spiel to his brother anyway when they both knew he was far from it.

He'd told Damon that he was fine though and he meant it. While he knew what his brother said was true, that sometimes you could just snap, it hadn't happened to him and it wouldn't. He was feeding from the blood bags, he was keeping it under control and everything would be fine, right? It had been a long time since he'd drank the good stuff and his memory was a little rusty, but surely he'd be used to it enough eventually that he wouldn't want to tear out the throats of every person that walked passed him.

At times like these when he tried to convince himself a little voice in his mind emerged whispering that he was a ripper and he'd never be the same as every other run of the mill vampire.

He'd told his brother he was back off and he thought that just maybe he might of convinced him if it weren't for the disastrous events of the pageant. He lost control.

He'd been having fun we they were taught the dance and Elena seemed to enjoy it as well, while she noted that he seemed to be more lively than usual, she informed him that she was "not complaining," and they had a good time fooling around and making jokes with each other about his age. He was actually looking forward to the pageant with her before it all went to hell.

He remembered the indignant feeling that rose in his chest when she believed Damon over everything he was saying. Insisting that he 'wasn't alright'. He felt bitter then, the snide voice in his mind commenting that perhaps she should be with Damon then if she liked him so much better.

What he remembered most from that day though was the taste of Amber's blood sliding down his throat, sating a thirst that had been scratching at him for over fifty years. If he had of just compelled her to be quiet, taken what he needed and then left, taking her memories with him then everything would have been fine. But he didn't; he'd compelled her to run and then lost himself completely.

He could close his eyes right now and remember clear as crystal the taste and smell of her blood, but what he'd said to her was a blur. "Your carotid artery right here...control the blood flow...it takes practise...don't have to waste any." The words would flit through his mind, taunting him, her face burned into the back of his eyelids. _Don't have to waste any_.

He realised that day that it wasn't just about the blood, it was about the hunt. He wasn't human, he was another species entirely now, a predator and he needed the thrill of the hunt, the catch before he fed to sate his appetite completely.

Three words he learned to hate the most after that were "This isn't you." Elena said them all the time, constantly trying to reassure him that he was something better, that he could _be_ better. She made him want to try.

And then they locked him up and she was there. Everything she did for him...he owed it to her to try.

And so he did. And look where he was now, where did _trying _get him?

Months later and Elena was standing in front of him, cutting herself and telling him they were going to do this together. That he would take a little bit everyday and he would gradually become accustomed to it. He didn't know what was worse, the hypocrisy of that action or the fact that she was doing it because she actually _cared_.

What he did know, was that she had no idea what she'd done. He wasn't like his brother, or other vampires. He was a ripper.

And he was about to fall off the wagon.

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><p><strong>AN:** Short and sort of a prologue, thoughts?


	2. Two

Apologies for the lateness lovelies! Technical difficulties.

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>Falling Out of Love<br>_

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><p>He caught himself wondering, not for the first time, whether he was more in love with Katherine than he remembered. He could readily admit that the years before (and including) 1864 had been the best of his life. He had wished quite often to go back to then, when things had been so joyfully simple.<p>

He was the younger sibling, his father's favourite and despite that he and his older brother still had a loving relationship even if there was a little sibling rivalry from time to time. He had no clue where he was going, still deciding what he wanted to do with his life but in no hurry and the only thing that mattered was wooing the beautiful young ladies from the town or that came to stay at the Salvatore estate be it for a short or extended period of time.

Miss Katherine had at one point been Stefan's dream.

He wanted that – the 1800's domestic life. The wealthy man, managing his estates, raising a family with a beautiful lady and at the point of his turning, in his last year of human life Katherine had embodied that dream.

It wasn't a surprise that he couldn't just let that go. Regardless of whether he loved her or not, compelled or not, was _deceived_ or not – she was that dream for him and after his life was taken it became an even stronger desire. To be normal, human – have a _normal_ life.

Elena had become a second chance at that, he'd known it but refused t admit it out loud. Obviously his brother had no such issue with bringing Stefan's world as he knew it crashing down around his ears. Damon had maintained from the start that the only reason Stefan was interested in Elena, whether he chose to believe it or not, was because she looked like Katherine.

He felt callous now, as he began to let the doubts seep into the corners of his mind. He knew Damon was right, at least on some level, whether he wanted to believe it or not because deep down – they were the same. He and his older brother had both felt the same about Katherine, they had both been played, not only against each other and they both still held onto that same yearning for a normal life – whether Damon would admit to it or not.

Yes, they had much more in common than they'd like to admit. The difference between them though was that Damon had learned not to feel the guilt like Stefan did and so it didn't hurt him one bit to call him on his bluff, whether it upset Elena or not, because Damon simply didn't _care_.

What was worse was that Stefan ached to be just like him.

He felt rage. He felt guilt. He felt lonely – and he hated it.

It didn't help of course that he was lying to her in the first place – lying to them all. Did Elena seriously think that he was handling that ounce of blood she fed him everyday, just like that? Ho could they honestly believe that he, the ripper, after all his monumental slip ups, could just have that little bit and let go.

No, the only reason he was just managing not to tear her throat out and drain her dry was not his feelings for Elena (what a naïve assumption), but the fact that he was already full. He didn't know why Damon hadn't caught on by now actually. He'd been draining humans dry for months outside of town. He wouldn't dare hunt in Mystic Falls, not with the sheriff's little group keeping an eye on disappearances and suspicious deaths and with Damon and Elena and not to mention Katherine all watching his every move in the little town, just waiting for him to slip up. No. He didn't want any of them to know about this.

He was slipping and that definitely didn't make for a stellar relationship. Especially when he partially blamed Elena for it in the first place.

Stefan had also been having dreams for the last week, dreams that only solidified his doubts in himself. He would be dancing with who he thought was Elena but it would soon become apparent that it was actually Katherine. Or he would be watching a movie on the couch, with Elena snuggled into his chest, but when she looked up with a devious smirk, flashing a hint of fang he knew the brunette with him was not his girlfriend.

This all of course came to a head when he woke up in bed with Katherine, thinking it was Elena. His dreams were coming true in real life – if that wasn't a sign he didn't know what was.

That afternoon after all the crap that happened, Katherine telling him their love was real, their suspicions that Caroline was working for her, the whole moonstone business coming to light (even though he still had questions on that one), when Elena came to him with the idea that they pretend to have broken off their relationship he couldn't say yes fast enough.

She explained that they should publicly break it off for Katherine's benefit but continue to see each other in private, they'd do it that night at the Mystic Grill when everyone was present.

He had a few hours in between their conversation and the time to meet at The Grill to think about the proposal, about what it meant for them and how come he jumped on the idea so fast. He had been thinking before she even brought up the idea that maybe they should just end their relationship – for real. He should have said it then, instead of leading her on but he looked into her eyes and he just...couldn't do it. He was too soft and that infuriated him more than anyone could ever know.

They hadn't planned out their break up word for word and he thought she'd just take care of it, tell him in front of everyone that it was for the best, playing to damsel in distress card and he's seem reluctant but go along with her wishes.

He hadn't expected a _real_ argument and he knew by her stunned reaction that neither had she. It annoyed him when she said, "if she was going to hurt me she would have – I was standing right in front of her."

Was she really going to underestimate Katherine like that? She was a mere human and the minute she stopped being useful as a pawn in Katherine's little game she would snap Elena's neck, no questions asked. She was annoyed enough about her doppelgänger's involvement with Stefan but Elena having that attitude towards her – that would royally piss her off.

"Elena, you caught her off guard." He grit his teeth, trying to stay strong but pleasant, no need to get her into a twist. "It doesn't mean that you're safe."

The brunette raised her chin defiantly. "I'm not afraid of her."

Stefan couldn't help it, his face fell into a straight out glare. "Well you should be!" He snarled, stupid girl. He could tell she was in shock, trying to gauge whether or not his words were all just a part of the act.

"If Katherine had her way, we'd be breaking up right now."

Ha paused, taking a deep breath. "If today's taught me anything," he looked at her directly, "it's that Katherine's used to getting her way."

Her face crumbled. She wasn't acting anymore. "You're actually saying we should do what she says," she whispered, biting her bottom lip as her eyes filled with tears.

Stefan reeled with guilt at the sight, his heart clenching in his chest – shit. "Listen," he tried valiantly to backtrack, "she's sadistic okay? She threatened you, she threatened everyone!"

Elena stood up from the table, pushing her chair back sharply. "You're actually breaking up with me." Her tone was deadly and neither had any doubts anymore that the act was over and done with long ago.

He groaned, running a hand through his hair. "Elena..." All he could do was watch as she stormed out of the Grill, unable to force himself to get up and chase after her.

He was aware that Damon had gotten up from the bar almost immediately, shooting out the door to follow after her and then the rest of the table's stares automatically came to rest on him.

He huffed, annoyed and a little childishly. Pushing his chair out too he left them all behind without a word, rage simmering underneath his annoyance, begging to be released. All these negative emotions were there, just beneath the surface, always – just waiting to be released.

He needed to feed.

Glad he had taken his car he sped off, out of the main street and out of Mystic Falls altogether. He ended up in Lynchburg by midnight and found himself stopping at the first bar he saw, a glowing neon sign announcing '_BAR_' but not informing him of a name.

The way this usually went was he would go in, have a glimpse around while getting a drink. He'd pick out a target or two, usually women though sometimes men and then he'd seduce them into leaving with him. They wouldn't get farther than the car park or a back alley though before they met their fate.

On some nights he couldn't be bothered with much of anything and he just straight out compelled someone to sit down, shut up and let him feed. Usually though he enjoyed the thrill of the hunt to much to have it any other way. They would scream, cry, run and Stefan would relish in it. For that night at least.

As soon as he crossed the city limits back into Mystic Falls though, the guilt would eat him alive. More than once he'd contemplated taking his ring off and setting himself alight. Letting himself burn up and having it all be over with. It was tempting. So tempting. But something always held him back. Every time there was a niggling voice at the back of his mind that screamed at him not to do it – that he was meant for something more, that there was something he was missing.

How could he know what he was missing in life when he'd already nearly lost himself completely?

On this particular night his fangs were already pushing through his gums before he'd even gotten out of the car. The anger did that to him. While he managed to rein it in until he was alone, away from anyone who would judge him, when his feelings were particularly volatile, his fangs would come bursting through. Black veins would pulse around his eyes and the fire burning in his gut just wouldn't leave him alone until he'd _snapped_ someone's _neck_.

The fury rolling around in his stomach meant that before he'd even entered the bar, his target had been picked out. He crossed the car park in quick, long strides, reaching for a girl who'd just stepped out the door. Before she had a chance to scream he'd covered her mouth with one hand and took her forcefully by the arm with the other, shoving her up the alleyway and out of vision of the establishment, far from the coverage of the few street lights still working.

He didn't waste any time in sinking his fangs into her neck and drinking, draining. Sometimes he would compel them to forget and let them go, just so he didn't feel quite so guilty the next day. But sometimes he was so ravenous or so furious that he lost all control and he didn't have a concious option.

The ripper fed in quick succession, moving from one girl to another until his thirst was sated. Luckily for him, this girl had a friend who came looking for her and he didn't have to wait long to try and sate his hunger further for the night.

Someone would find the two bodies in the alleyway the next morning but he'd be long gone by then and the news would never reach Mystic Falls keeping his life – and his lies – intact.

He entered the bar after that, not sure yet whether the need for a good strong drink he felt was a pull towards whiskey or blood. That niggling thought nagged at his mind again. The subtle suggestion that he shouldn't go back to Mystic Falls at all, that the fake-normal life shouldn't be his aspiration, that there was something more out there for him. He had to find...

Stefan shook his head. The idea never ceased to swirl around through his head, but he could never quite grasp it. Whatever it was that he should be looking for, it slipped through his fingers every time. He was so conflicted.

He sat down at the bar, an elbow up, head resting on his palm as he compelled the bartender to just hand over the whole bottle of whiskey. Taking a deep swig he groaned, closing his eyes and rubbing his hands over his face.

"Rough night, mate?" An accented voice sounded from his right and he turned his head with a glare, faltering when his eyes met ocean blue.

Everything stopped.

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><p>Wow, this is getting a little intense.<p>

So have you guys checked out my new Klefan oneshot _Collision_ yet? (Shameless cross-promotion!)


	3. Three

Here's a klefix for you guys! :) Yes, I did coin that term and it is copyright - mine! :D

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>Falling Into the Past<br>_

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><p>Stefan stared.<p>

"You...I..." He faltered, brow furrowing. Blonde hair, full pink lips and those gorgeous blue eyes. He looked so, so familiar and yet Stefan was sure that he was a complete stranger. He knew without a doubt that if he'd met this walking temptation before he would definitely remember it.

Nevertheless he couldn't help but ask. "Have we met before?"

The small smirk that grazed the strangers lips was too familiar to ignore, and such a comfortable expression on the blonde. Alluring. He was a vampire, of that much Stefan was certain – the main practically exuded power in a manner that screamed dangerous.

"Of course we have, Stefan." And that was the clincher. It was said in a tone that left no room for argument and he knew at once that it was the truth. He _knew_ this man. The information was fleeting though, slipping through his fingers. He always felt like he was missing something.

"I don't remember," he admitted warily, feeling out of his depth – being studied like prey. It was obvious he was lacking some important knowledge here but Stefan found he was too exhausted to be irritated, only curious.

The smirk had yet to disappear from the stranger's lips and he was issued with a knowing look. "Yes, Stefan. You do." One minute he was marvelling at the intense shade of blue he couldn't _quite_ place in his mind and the next he was falling. Spiralling into the past, a million memories all flashing passed him at once before his mind's eye.

A jazz club, a woman, a man. A kill, a drink, a dance.

Stefan's jaw fell open. "Klaus?" He questioned disbelievingly, just managing to stay upright, a little giddy from the sudden head spin of regaining what seemed like thousands of moments, all captured in time. Things he did, things he said...things he felt. It all slammed into him in one big rush and he scrambled to sort his cluttered mind into some sort of order.

"It's been a long time, ripper." The man in front of him murmured, taking a swig of his drink and in Stefan's mind he envisioned them at another bar in another time.

"What...?" He struggled for words.

"Take some time," the older vampire shrugged his shoulders, getting up from his barstool and draining the rest of his drink. "Let it all..._sink in_." He murmured leaning closer to the brunette. "I'll come for you." It was another whisper, a warm breath brushing the shell of his ear and then, he was gone. Just like that.

And Stefan was left to sort himself out alone.

He was startled, confused and a little scared, he would admit it. But for the first time in decades he felt...complete. The piece of him that had been missing for years, every time he had a stray thought that slipped through his fingers or a niggling curiosity beyond his grasp – this was it. His memories.

Klaus, Klaus and his blonde bombshell of a sister...Rebekah. He had been a cocky bastard back then, tearing out throats up and down the eastern seaboard...his reputation had preceded him. He'd liked the attention from the two original vampires, something so strong being interested in him? His ego had loved it.

So he'd gotten close to them both...forged bonds of friendship. He'd led Rebekah on at first, not for a second was he romantically interested in her, but her attention – that he liked. He'd done the same with her brother at first, though a little less successful. Klaus and Rebekah both knew when they were being lied to – it was like a sixth sense for them. Fortunately for Stefan he was good at it and he passed by Rebekah without a hitch, the blonde never looking further passed his cocky ripper douche façade.

Klaus however was another matter. Klaus saw straight through Stefan like his mask wasn't even there in the first place. Somehow in a short amount of time he _knew_ Stefan. His hopes and dreams, his fears and doubts...He knew him inside and out in terrifying clarity. And that drew Stefan in all the more.

What started out as an act became genuine friendship. Though Klaus didn't share a lot of himself they became close comrades in a short amount of time, Stefan finding himself drawn even more to the mystery of the original – the enigma that was Klaus.

After a while though Stefan wanted more from Klaus. He wanted to know more, to see more, to do more. Just _more_.

Stefan was a charmer even back then. He was sleazier about it in those days, only using his natural charisma to pick up one night stands to relieve sexual tension or, of course, when he was in need of a decent meal.

Every now and then though the natural, virtuous Stefan's charms would shine through and he'd make a comment or a gesture that would raise a few eyebrows. A few subtle moves here and there to feel out the older vampire and gauge his position.

His attentions had been noticed of course, by both Klaus and his sister who turned into a right harpy when she realised she'd been played. But it would all be worth it, he believed. At least until he'd forgotten.

Without that gap in his memory now he knew he'd been so close to _something_. But then it all came crashing down. He had to be grateful he supposed that when his memories were taken he didn't have the opportunity to feel betrayed. That he couldn't feel burned, didn't know to be upset.

And yet, he still didn't know why Klaus had made him forget in the first place. He could close his eyes now and picture the original's face in perfect clarity and he knew – he _knew_ – he saw regret there.

It was evidenced enough by the fact that Klaus had found him again and returned his memories, for there was no way their meeting in the bar had been just a coincidence, a freak act of nature...no. This was intentional.

Did Klaus just expect them to pick up where he left off?

That was impossible. Stefan wasn't that person anymore. Though he supposed he was well on his way to becoming it again. He couldn't just ignore the decade that had passed though, everything that had happened to him, it wasn't all just about to go away.

He wanted different things now. A normal human life perhaps. Elena.

What would she think of all this? He didn't even want to know. He couldn't afford to be apologetic to her though. He was a vampire and that wasn't going to change. She needed to realise that this was real life, not a twilight movie and he wasn't going to just stop feeding from humans simply because humanity deems it wrong. Of course they do – they're the ones getting eaten.

He was a predator and he would act like one if he wanted to.

Ironically it didn't take more than a second for him to decide that now when he'd been struggling with it for so long – and with Elena for the past however many months. But he was torn completely over what to do about a certain blonde original whose face seemed to now be seared into the back of his eyelids.

Sighing, Stefan got up and left the bar, deciding to head back to Mystic Falls for the night. Despite the fact that he wasn't going to stop feeding off humans and as of tonight he was no longer dating Elena, he still had a life there.

Hey, it was his town first right?

The only problem would be avoiding his brother when he got in tonight, he contemplated as he shifted his car into gear, because he'd been a little messy when feeding and even without his jacket on the scent of blood still lingered strongly around him.

For the first time he wished his brother had not calmed down and eased into the life of a typical Mystic Falls citizen. If Damon still fed from people then this downward spiral he had going on here would be a lot easier – less difficult to hide and a whole lot less judgement being sent his way.

Unfortunately it seemed that as of late he wasn't the only Salvatore brother Katherine's look-a-like had charmed.

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><p>The next morning dawned bright and Stefan groaned, rolling over in his bed. He enjoyed the human indulgence of sleeping in far too much. The prospect of what was ahead for today made him want to do something else impulsively human – like bashing his head against a wall.<p>

He would really prefer to stay at home in bed today with a bottle of whiskey than have to go to some stupid community event, but one: he and Damon both had to keep up appearances in front of the council and two: he had to once again sort out his older brother's messes. Mason Lockwood needed to be dealt with before he started stirring up more trouble than he was worth. That and he took a shot at his older brother and that just wasn't on. Stefan had been feeling strangely protective of Damon lately, despite the fact that he watched his younger brother like a hawk, just waiting for him to slip up and kill someone.

Sometimes he wondered if Damon knew where he went 'after hours', but he shook it off. Surely he would have said something, if not to Stefan himself then to Elena. He was sure the moment he slipped up Damon would move in on the beautiful brunette, regardless of whether she and Stefan still had an unspoken 'thing' or not.

That was another reason he wanted to stay in bed today – Elena. She was going to be there with the rest of the Mystic Falls group of course, the day having been planned for weeks. He wasn't looking forward to having to speak to her, which he definitely would. Despite the fact that Katherine didn't want them on friendly terms, Stefan couldn't leave their relationship as it was.

It wasn't as if he didn't still care about her, he just didn't care enough to change for her and if she stayed steadfast in her resolve then they just couldn't be together due to a difference of opinion. That didn't mean they couldn't be friends though and despite their fight last night, Stefan felt terrible being on anything less than cordial terms with her.

She wasn't Katherine, she hadn't done anything truly terrible to deserve his ire.

Having pulled on a grey t-shirt and some jeans, he picked up his Ray Ban's before heading downstairs. He found the morning after he'd had a good feed his eyesight picked up exceptionally from the intake of human blood and on days like today when it was particularly warm the sunlight's glare really burnt into his retinas.

He snuck down to the basement, hearing his brother's shower running full blast upstairs and assuming he'd be a while – that was Damon's guilty human indulgence, hot showers and steaming baths.

Luckily for him his brother never seemed to notice one or two blood bags missing from his stash down in the cellar ice-box, probably because Caroline fed from them as well. It wouldn't be completely unreasonable to assume that she'd had a feed or two in the boarding house once or twice.

Newborn vampires tended to get notoriously peckish, their appetite larger than normal for a good while after the change.

Stefan groaned as his teeth sank into the plastic lining of a blood bag, not bothering to heat it up. Getting them from here was one thing, but venturing upstairs to nuke them in the microwave? A little bit _too_ risky.

He drained one and then another before looking down at the empty, bloodstained bags and wondering where he was going to dispose of them this time. Quietly he snuck up the cellar stairs and darted into the kitchen, dropping them into the trash can before moving more trash on top.

He felt ridiculous.

Especially when he heard his brother clear his throat behind him.

"So...how long has that been going on?" If looks could kill.

"Damon," Stefan glared back, "just don't-"

"Tell Elena?" His brother finished for him, giving him a calculating once over. "Ok." He agreed slowly, much to his younger brother's shock.

"Just ok?" Stefan raised a brow, eyeing his brother sceptically.

"Yeah," Damon agreed casually. "You don't _seem_ to be running off the rails yet Stef, so I'll let it slide for now."

He nodded silently. He didn't know whether his brother thought he was just indulging in a blood bag every now and then or whether he actually knew the truth. He definitely didn't know his little brother had been killing people, that much was obvious.

Unable to gauge his brother's knowledge he decided not to dwell on it, especially in front of Damon because the eldest Salvatore brother had no problem reading Stefan like an open book – not everything had changed since they were kids.

They walked to the council's little get together, neither wanting to bother with the pretence of driving a car out and it gave Stefan's eyes time to adjust behind his sunglasses. He also had a moment to think of what he was going to say to Elena, unfortunately nothing came to him so when he found himself standing in front of her all he could say was, "I'm sorry."

She wasn't impressed by his efforts it seemed and he didn't think, judging by the look on her face, that anything less than 'I'm an idiot, I want to get back together' was really going to cut it with her. So much for friendship and a congenial mood, he really hoped Katherine was watching this because it was _painful_.

"Elena, c'mon!" He tried again. "Can we at least just be civil about this?"

The brunette rolled her eyes and flicked her hair out of her face with her free hand. "No Stefan, we can't." She frowned, putting down the paintbrush she was working with and putting both hands on her hips. "You want to let other people dictate our relationship."

He glared darkly, "I'm trying to keep you safe." Wasn't that what he always did? Kept her safe? And no matter what always chose whatever option was in her best interest?

"You can't let other people decide for us!"

He chuckled sarcastically. Didn't she realise that was a little hypocritical? The indignant act she was putting on that we couldn't let other people control us and make our decisions for us yet that was exactly what she had been doing to him the last six months of their relationship.

"What, like you haven't been deciding things for me?" He sniped back, letting his annoyance seep through into his voice.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She exclaimed attracting the attention of a few people in close proximity. Caroline of course had been listening the entire time, standing a foot away, eyes darting between the two unabashedly. At least something would come out of this – Katherine would enjoy their little spat.

"What that's supposed to mean Elena, is that you've been trying to control what I eat for the past half a year!" He hissed darkly, not needing some of the more supernaturally unaware citizens to hear his statement, or worse, the council members.

Elena stared at him, seemingly appalled. "You can't drink from humans Stefan – it's wrong!" She hissed back, gesturing angrily with her hands.

Stefan rolled his eyes. "You're only saying that because you're food," he noted darkly before stalking away.

Why couldn't things go right for him today? Things with Mason Lockwood didn't exactly go swimmingly and now this? Great.

He made his way over to the rotunda where his brother was just finishing up a quick conversation with Liz, no doubt dealing in council business and some sort of underhanded attempt to boot Mason out of the loop for good.

Damon was already facing him and Stefan was sure he'd been using his vampire hearing to attune to his whole conversation with Elena, all the while keeping the sheriff satisfied. Great.

As he arrived Liz turned to leave but not without sending Damon a loaded look that had Stefan wondering about the details of their conversation.

"So, trouble in paradise?" Damon began sarcastically and Stefan groaned, holding his hand palm up in his brother's face.

"Don't, seriously, don't even start Damon." He ran a hand through his hair, feeling his neck twinge uncomfortably. How could he still have discomfort in his spine and feel tired and exhausted and all these other human hindrances? He was supposed to be above all this now.

"I'm going to go and...have a chat, with Mason Lockwood." Damon said mischievously and Stefan sighed knowing there was no point in trying to stop him.

"You're going to get us killed Damon." He warned, but didn't make a move to challenge him otherwise.

His brother simply shrugged, replying with a smirk and a, "nah!" Before moving through the crowd and after the resident werewolf.

Absent-mindedly he picked up a plastic cup of punch from the table behind him and took a swig, eyes widening as his entire mouth came alight. "Fuck," he groaned, coughing and spluttering and would have collapsed to the ground if not for the pair of solid, cotton clad arms holding him up.

"Easy, ripper." Came the warm British accent and Stefan clung to him, eyes clenched shut in pain.

"Vervain," he croaked out, gripping tightly onto Klaus as his breathing slowly returned to normal, though his throat still felt like he'd poured something volcanic down there.

The taller vampire held him in place, a hand running soothingly across his back until Stefan calmed enough to release his tight grasp on the original's arms and step back, realising his face had been buried in the blonde's neck.

He gasped tightly, a hand reaching up to rub at his throat. "Thanks." He muttered, staring up into azure orbs hesitantly, hardly believing what he was seeing. It was difficult to associate memories of a past life he never knew he had with his present thinking.

In seconds Damon was there, a hand on Stefan's shoulder, a predatory gaze looking over the newcomer. It took Stefan a moment to realise that Damon didn't know Klaus and realising a vampire on first sight was seeing him as a potential threat, for that was all that had come their way lately.

"What happened?" His brother grit out, eyes darting between Stefan and Klaus and then back again.

"The punch is spiked with vervain," Stefan groaned, swaying a little on the spot, and Damon's attention was sharply diverted when Klaus reached out to steady him.

"Who's this?" His lip curled and Stefan rolled his eyes.

"He's a friend Damon, we have bigger problems." His teeth were grit as he spoke, throat still raw from the damaging herb.

Damon looked at Klaus calculatingly for a moment before turning grudgingly back to Stefan. His brain seemed to finally process what had happened because his eyes narrowed to slits. "Lockwood. That werewolf is _dead_."

"Wait, wait!" Stefan raised his hands, trying to placate his murderous older brother before he exposed them both in the middle of this quaint little family affair.

"No, Stefan! I'm not listening to anymore of your 'give peace a chance' crap, he's dead." Damon's expression was thunderous and Stefan glanced quickly to the side to see Klaus giving a raised eyebrow.

If he didn't realise before that Stefan was no longer the 'Ripper of Monterrey' then he sure as hell did now. Annoyed, he clenched his jaw and turned back to Damon. "As, I was saying," he spat out, "I don't like it but he's making threats, he could expose us. We need to put him down."

Damon couldn't hide his surprised, yet impressed look and nodded. "Alright then."

When they were younger Stefan would get this warm feeling in the bottom of his stomach whenever he impressed Damon. He looked up to his older brother, in fact most of the time he wanted to be just like him. Stefan had that feeling now and he wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.

He did notice however the smirk that crossed Klaus' face and he would vehemently deny that any butterflies rose in his stomach from that.

"Want me to take care of him for you, love?" The blonde asked and Stefan wondered how he'd gone the last half a century without hearing that accent at least once a day.

Damon made a quick decision for them, taking Stefan's arm and pulling him away in hurried strides. "Nope, we're good!" He exclaimed, before looking back over his shoulder and saying, "don't go anywhere though, we'll deal with you later!"

Stefan just shook his head. His cocky brother didn't know what he was getting himself into. Typical Damon, dive in head first, ask questions later.

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><p>So, when I wrote <em>Collision<em> I hadn't seen the new ep – holy crap. Klaus basically said the exact same thing in the ep as I wrote, clearly klefan is canon. OTP.

Oh and I just posted another quickie too, _Oblivious_. (:

What do you guys think of 'big bad' Stefan and slightly nicer ('damonized') Klaus? Are the writer's spot on or off the mark?


	4. Four

Klefix?

I am now aware that Elena didn't feed Stefan her blood until after this episode so yeah the timeline is off. Oops. I claim creative license.

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>Falling Back Onto Old Habits<br>_

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><p>Elena was frantic. "Caroline? Caroline, what is it?" The blond girl had frozen in her tracks, eyes glazed over, clearly using her supernatural senses to listen on in something Elena couldn't hear yet.<p>

"My mum..." the cheerleader whispered slowly. "She's killing them."

From where she was standing Elena could see her friend's hands shaking – her legs trembling on the spot, unable to move. She could kick Mason Lockwood's ass no problem but facing down her mother?

"We have to stop her!" Elena exclaimed, peering down the stairs into the blackness below. She grabbed Caroline's arm and urged her forward.

"No!" Caroline tore her arm from her friend's grasp, stumbling backward. "I can't Elena, she's gonna find out about me!" She looked over with teary eyes, holding a hand to her mouth. "Elena, _please_." She'd do anything not to have to go down there, not to have to look into her mother's eyes and see the disgust she knew would be waiting for a creature like her.

Both girls refused to back down, glaring at each other until a cough from behind them startled them to attention.

"Excuse me," the blond man said sarcastically, gaze lingering on Elena for a moment before pushing them both out of the way and proceeding casually down the stairs.

"What the hell?" Elena voiced, staring after him.

"He's a vampire," Caroline murmured, but I've never seen him before. She looked at Elena for a moment. "A friend of Stefan maybe?" For his sake she hoped not because everyone knew what had happened to Lexi.

Elena grabbed her arm again suddenly and began tugging her down the stairs frantically. "Whoever he is, you need to get your mum out of there!"

Realisation coming to her, Caroline left Elena in the dust, speeding down the stairs into the damp cellar under the old Lockwood Estate. Her eyes darted around the room, taking in the macabre scene. Damon and Stefan were unconscious on the ground, there were two of Mystic Falls' deputies strewn across the floor with their throats torn out and against the wall the newcomer had the sheriff by her throat.

"No!" Caroline yelled, rushing the stranger in an attempt to save her mother only to be thrown back into the wall, the rockery cracking ominously behind her. A little dazed but undeterred, she launched to her feet again, this time managing to get a hold on the vampire's arm and attempted to pull him away. He turned to her with an irritated look, not having moved an inch from her efforts. He was _old_.

She stood her ground stubbornly, glaring at the older man. "Let her go!"

"And why should I do that?" He asked sarcastically and behind her Caroline could hear Elena shuffle into the cellar cautiously.

"Because it's my mother," she glared, mouth forming a tight line. Liz had been stubbornly quiet, refusing to loose face to a vampire of all creatures but now she looked terrified, scared for Caroline's life in the dark about just how strong her little girl was.

Her eyes clashed darkly with turquoise for a moment before the stranger rolled his eyes and turned back to the Sheriff who was gesturing with her eyes for her daughter to run away.

When his eyes met hers he opened his mouth and began to speak hypnotically. "You will go home, you don't remember the events of the last half an hour, it never happened." With that he casually let the blonde woman go and she slumped forward into her daughter's grasp. She only remained there for a moment though before setting off at a fast pace toward the entrance and up the stairs.

Caroline seemed torn, not wanting to leave Elena with this stranger alone but wanting to follow her mother and make sure that she was in fact okay and the compulsion wasn't going to go wonky.

"Go," Elena motioned brushing her off as she went to kneel next to Damon and Stefan, "I'll be fine," she insisted from behind a curtain of brunette hair and Caroline only nodded before blurring up the stairs and after her mother.

The cellar fell silent once more but Elena was acutely aware of the stranger's gaze burning heatedly into her back as she tended to the two brothers, praying one of them would wake up soon and explain who this guy was.

"It's Elena, isn't it?" He spoke up from behind her and she shivered, taking note for the first time of his British accent. She turned to see him dragging one of the dead deputy's closer, looking up as he dumped it next to Damon, seeming to study her for a moment before going for the other one.

"Did you know Katherine?" She asked quietly, knowing this had to be reason he was staring at her so strangely. Vampire's did that, those of them that knew her look-a-like either assumed she _was_ her or simply stared at her in wonderment.

The blonde man shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, replying, "doesn't everyone?" And Elena had to admit her had a good point. Katherine had done well in making a reputation for herself among other vampires. She wasn't sure whether it was just Stefan's circles but everyone seemed to have an opinion on her.

She was nudged out of her thoughts when Stefan groaned and rolled over, coughing, opening his eyes blearily. Damon stirred then too, sitting up much quicker than Stefan. In the blink of an eye he was on the deputy's throat, sinking his fangs in to revitalise himself. Elena scuttled backwards in shock, hand over her heart, breathing heavily.

"Crap, Damon!" The older Salvatore only smirked at her, mouth bloody before continuing to feed. It was then she noticed the new vampire cradling Stefan's head in his hands, bringing him ever closer to the other dead human's still bloody trachea.

"No!" She yelped, moving forward to stop him, gasping as hands on her hips pulled her back. Her hair whipped across her face as her head flew around to meet Damon's eyes.

"He needs blood Elena."

Her mouth turned into a thin line and she glared darkly at Damon. "He can't."

Damon rolled his eyes. "He _needs_ human blood Elena, he'll be _fine_."

In the midst of their heating staring competition Stefan had managed to heave himself upright. He noticed Damon looking at him sharply and he knew that perhaps he'd caught on that his little brother wasn't just having a blood bag every now and then, because he'd recovered pretty well from a full dose of vervain into the bloodstream.

"I'm fine." He rasped, rubbing the back of his head, thankful for the supportive arm behind him holding his weight. Letting his fangs slip down he reached for the human, digging his teeth in sharply, moaning as the sweet taste hit his tongue. It was a little cold, but he was used to that by now and he'd do anything to get rid of the pounding headache that had suddenly descended on him.

Draining the former officer quickly, he dropped the body to the floor, looking up to catch Elena's silent horrified stare, blood still dripping from his lips.

"So much for taking care of it yourself," Klaus snipped from behind him and Stefan sighed.

"They caught us off guard." He murmured, bones cracking as he got to his feet. "But thanks," he finished sincerely, looking down at his old friend fondly.

"What happened to Liz?" Damon asked suddenly, looking around the room, seeming to have noticed that she hadn't joined her dead deputy's on the floor.

"He compelled her." Elena said softly, looking directly at Klaus across the room from where she stood next to Damon.

"Yeah," Damon began with snark, "speaking of, who is he?" He looked to his brother, arms crossed over his chest in question.

Stefan looked between the two of them debating what the best answer to give would be, especially when Klaus wasn't looking forthcoming with any brilliant ideas. "He's an old friend." He finally settled on, wondering whether he'd made the right choice when Damon's frown deepened.

"Huh." His brother replied quietly, looking between them as if assessing the credibility of his answer.

"That's right," Klaus spoke up suddenly, "old mates." He stepped forward, dusting off his hands. "And if you'll excuse us, we've got some catching up to do." And with that he took Stefan's arm and began dragging him forcibly out of the Lockwood dungeon and up into the waning daylight – not that the younger vampire put up much of a fight of course.

"So," the blonde dropped his arm when he considered them far enough out into the woods, "sorted out all those pesky memories yet ripper?"

Stefan couldn't help but let his eyes dart down to full pink lips, his tongue shooting out to lick his own. He had to physically shake himself for a second before looking up at the original, eyes narrowed. "Mostly, yeah."

"Good." Klaus replied, nodding his head before turning sharply to grip his shoulder, "then maybe you'd like to explain why you're so damn broody all the time."

Stefan sighed heavily. "Things can't just go back to the way they were Klaus," he murmured. "Things have changed...I've changed."

The blonde scoffed. "Not from where I'm standing. You still seem to have the same _taste_." He muttered spitefully, sending a loaded glance back the way they'd come.

Stefan's jaw dropped open. "You don't know what you're talking about." He couldn't help but glare at the original. They were close in the twenties, close enough that Stefan had shared with the older vampire the events of the last year of his time among the living including the entire saga involving him, Damon and Katherine Pierce.

Klaus was throwing the trust he'd shown in him back in his face and using it against him.

"When I first came to Mystic Falls and noticed you here I knew it was time – for you to remember, for things to go back to the way they used to be...but then I saw you with her." He chuckled a little to himself, "I thought you'd done something ridiculously moronic. It was like I was watching the story you told me in real time – you, Damon, Katherine – one big love triangle drama thrown around for all the world to see." The original frowned at him, "but then, then I noticed that Katherine seemed to be a little _too_ happy all the time, a little too nice."

He circled Stefan, keeping him entranced in his retelling of events – the younger vampire fascinated that Klaus had been watching him, apparently for a while and he'd never had a clue.

"And then one day I was close enough to realise that she wasn't a vampire." His long strides stopped and he stood unmoving in front of Stefan. "A doppelgänger? Really Stefan?"

"So I was right, in a way. You were making the same stupid mistake you made years ago, you were just repeating it over." The blonde used both hands to shove him then and Stefan stumbled backwards a few steps, not expecting the move.

"She doesn't love you Stefan, not the real you."

Stefan's mouth was dry. What did you say to that? Something that had been spinning around your head for such a long time but you didn't have the courage to say out loud. Something that you knew was the truth but wanted so badly to believe otherwise.

"I know," he croaked out, closing his eyes. He felt a breath of air on his face and a hand brushing under his jaw. When he opened his eyes it was to clear ocean blues.

"Then leave it all behind." It was a double entendre. Leave it all behind and _come with me_. There was a space in his chest cavity that _yearned_ for this. He felt such longing. This was the piece that had slipped through his grasp all these years – he'd missed something he never even knew he had in the first place.

"I can't," he choked out, closing his eyes as they burned. He bit down on his lip so it didn't tremble as he whispered, "I'm sorry."

And then he ran, flashing through the trees, darting in and out of the woodland in the direction of the boarding house, not bothering to look back because he could sense that he was alone.

Klaus didn't chase him.

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><p>So this Friday (Thursday night for you Americans ;)) is my BIRTHDAY! I think that because you all love me so much you should write klefan birthday themed one shots for me as birthday gifts!<p> 


	5. Five

Klefix? Lucky because it's my birthday tomorrow! :D

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>Falling Down a Rabbit Hole<br>_

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><p>It had been two days since his encounter with Klaus and he still couldn't help but wish that the original had of chased after him. He was frustrated with himself and he was taking it out on everyone else as well.<p>

"Seriously, I do _not_ care about any of the supernatural crap that goes on in this town. I do _not_ care about some stupid stone." He glared across the room at Elena and Bonnie Like hell was he going to go running around Mystic Falls after some stupid rock just because it could break a curse.

He had a lapis lazuli ring, as did everyone they cared about and they had no problem in making any more – they didn't need to break the curse and to be honest, he wasn't concerned about the werewolves breaking it either. Mason Lockwood thought that Katherine was after the stone to help him – to break the curse for him.

Mason Lockwood didn't know Katherine.

Stefan sat up in his seat at that. Katherine. Katherine had no problem walking in the sun either and there's no way she'd actually want to break the were's curse and yet, she was still after the stone. Why?

There had to be something he wasn't seeing. Something more important about the damn thing if Katherine was after it – she always had some kind of diabolical plan up her sleeve. Stefan glared ahead darkly. What to do...

"Where do you think it is?" He looked up again contemplatively, noting the surprised look on the witch's face and rolling his eyes. So they should be surprised, he had no reason to help them whatsoever right now, especially after how judgemental they were all being of him.

Ever since he'd drank that human's blood in the cellar no one would look at him the same – even Damon seemed to see him in a different light. What annoyed Stefan even more though was that he remembered everything that had happened down there and he knew that while Damon had 'eaten a deputy' too, he wasn't treated any differently.

He supposed they all expected I from Damon by now – everyone knew he drank human, even if it wasn't fresh half the time. Sometimes he thought they were glad he did, because it made him strong and they were always using his abilities with compulsion to protect themselves. What really struck Stefan the most though, was that when no one had jumped to attack Damon over it, he realised they might just be accepting Damon for what he is – a vampire and that was frustrating.

Just because he'd been the 'nice brother' didn't make it an opportunity for double standards.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by Bonnie's voice and he frowned, looking at her sceptically. "Did you just say a well?" At her nod he raised an eyebrow. "You believe, they hid a powerful artefact capable of changing life as we know it...in a well."

It was the witch's turn to roll her eyes now and he glared darkly as she spoke. "That's what I saw."

Stefan just stared.

"Look, we don't have much time!" Elena cut in, "Damon's taking care of Mason but who knows when Katherine might show up – we need you to get the moonstone, now."

Not for the first time these past few days Stefan wondered what the hell he was still doing in Mystic Falls. He didn't _need_ to be here anymore. His brother could take care of himself and this town if he desperately wanted to, for the next fifty years until Elena passed away – he could have left with Klaus and no one would have cared.

Honestly, he should just tell them to go find the damn stone themselves but he couldn't help but be intrigued by the prospect of having something Katherine was so ardently searching for.

"Are you sure there aren't any other protections around the well?" He asked, still sceptical since the entire thing sounded all too easy.

"Well they don't have a witch," Bonnie pointed out, "so there won't be any spells on it."

Stefan sighed, rising from his chair and leaving without so much as a goodbye. He'd get the moonstone – whether he'd give it to them or not was another thing entirely. If this thing was so important it was probably coveted by people much more powerful than Katherine and it would make a damn good bargaining chip should the need ever arise.

He made his way through the woods, not bothering to run. Even if Damon had Mason it would be a long time before Katherine even noticed something was up. She didn't care about the werewolf at all – that much he was sure of – so there was no way she was suddenly going to notice he was missing.

He caught himself wondering where Klaus was and where exactly he fit into all of this, was he drawn here by the moonstone too? He was a powerful vampire and he had known Katherine in a past life as well. He remembered the original telling him once, after Stefan had dragged the family skeletons out of the closet, that Katherine Pierce was really Katerina Petrova.

He didn't know what went down between them, only that it wasn't good and Klaus had sworn to kill her if he ever saw her again. Back then Nik had been quiet over the matter and Stefan hadn't wanted to push him. Of course, he'd forgotten all that information once his memory had been erased.

It was becoming more of a mystery the longer he thought about it and it only made him more determined to figure out what was going on here – whether he cared about Mystic Falls or not. This couldn't all be over the sun and the moon curse, especially if he was correct in his assumptions and Niklaus was involved.

His unnatural curiosity could be considered his fatal flaw. He remembered Gloria once warning him about getting involved with Klaus, before he'd ever even approached the man. She'd watched him study he vampire across the room during her set and had later found him at the bar, leaning across to comment, "curiosity killed the cat, you know." Stefan had merely smirked at her and replied, "but satisfaction brought it back." Cocky little bastard that he was.

For a brief moment he wished he'd listened to her but brushed the though away. He wouldn't trade those memories now and he could say that for a fact having been forced to live without them for ninety years.

He weaved through the dense bushland of the old Lockwood property, perking up a little when the well was within sight. He rounded the structure, peering into the dark abyss below with a groan. He could see the water and presumably the bottom with it, but it wasn't exactly a small drop. He could jump in and jump back out though he thought, with his vampire agility and strength. The human blood he'd been consuming lately had gone along way in enhancing his supernatural abilities.

It had a metal covering, the bars criss crossing the mouth of the well welded together and held on by a padlock. He reached up and crushed the padlock with his fist, ripping it off the cover and throwing it behind him into the bush. He lifted off the cover too and tossed it away with ease. He peered down once more, feeling hesitant for the first time, but shook his head.

He was just being paranoid. Mason Lockwood was just a dumb werewolf, this had to be exactly what it seemed. He wasn't smart enough to find witches or the like to help him with this and obviously Katherine didn't pick the hiding place because she wouldn't have chosen somewhere as stupid as a well in the middle of the woods.

Of course, there was always the chance that Bonnie was wrong and there was nothing down there in the first place. It was worth a look though, he told himself, climbing up onto the rim.

And with that, he jumped.

When he landed in the water he immediately knew something was wrong, his skin sizzled and he hissed, scrambling backwards, pressing himself against the wall. The burning only got worse and he lifted an arm in front of himself, seeing the skin peeling right off. His mind racing he first thought the witch must have been wrong, that there must be a spell on the well but then he noticed the herbs floating around them and he moaned. Vervain.

He hissed, frantically searching under the water for the stone, not willing to put his head under and look, lest his eyes burn out. Miraculously, his foot hit something hard and he reached down, flinging it into the air. A box – the moonstone. Catching it once more, he threw it out of the well, waiting to hear it land safely on the ground before looking up trying desperately to scramble up the side of the well.

He couldn't contain his choked groans of pain now and as layers of his skin disappeared and the vervain filled water filled his insides, coating his muscles, he _screamed_. He could feel blackness encroaching on the edge of his vision and his throat felt raw. It was then that he realised he was still screaming. He bit back a choked sob and moaned, trying once more the scale the wall, to just get _away_ from the water.

His mind was rolling over and over, running through every option he had but there was nothing he could do, he had no strength left. His skin was smoking and one hand was burnt through, nearly to the bone – he couldn't look at it. Abruptly he heard a splash and hissed as the water flew across his face, searing into his skin. He couldn't help but let out a choked sob as he opened his eyes and saw the last person he expected to find him.

In little more than a flash he found himself being lifted tightly and flung upwards, encased against another body as he rocketed out of the well and into the sunlight. The pain was that intense he had half a mind to slip his ring off.

He screamed as something brushed against his hand, choking down the bile that rose in his throat as he saw the milky white of bones between his flesh.

A wrist was suddenly in his face and he latched on immediately. Biting down hard he forcibly dragged the blood from the veins, groaning as it hit his taste buds. He heard a hiss from above him and found the original's blue eyes glaring down at him for the pain he'd caused.

Feeling properly chastised he let go slowly, fighting not to whimper as his body complained. He needed more blood.

"How do you keep getting yourself into these situations, ripper?" The blonde asked before standing, leaving Stefan slouched against the well, still close to screaming from the pain.

"Klaus!" He moaned, thinking the vampire was just going to walk away and leave him here. If Klaus didn't help him, he would die slowly and painfully.

"I'm going to find you a meal, _stay_."

Stefan could have laughed at the vampire's ground out statement, he was clearly in no position to be going anywhere but before he could reply as such the original was gone.

Stefan groaned, rolling onto his side and spotting the wooden box he'd pulled from the well sitting innocently amongst the dirt and leaves a mere metre away from him. Wincing he dragged his battered body over, snatching up the box and pulling the damn thing towards him, slouching back against the well with his prize in a tight grip. He wasn't about to let it go after everything he'd gone through to get it.

Klaus returned quickly, carrying a body and Stefan barely even looked at it before latching on with his fangs. Two minutes later the man's body was drained of all blood and Stefan was staring up at Klaus expectantly.

"What?" The blonde huffed, glaring down at him. "Humans are slow and I couldn't carry more than one."

Stefan couldn't help but pout. He was well enough to get up now but severe burns still covered his arms and he was sure his legs would be the same. His muscles had regenerated over his hand but the skin was struggling.

He got to his feet, still grasping the box, but stumbled forward as his legs struggled to hold his weight. He groaned, collapsing forward into Klaus' arms. "Ever the melodramatic one Stefan," the original murmured and was rewarded with a shove.

Stefan wobbled on the spot, having pushed the other vampire away and glared at him, taking one step forward and then another before his knees buckled and he fell forward once more. This time Klaus caught him before gently lowering him back to the ground.

The original huffed before offering Stefan his vein again. After a warning look from the vampire, Stefan bit down gently, letting the blood run into his mouth this time instead of pulling on it forcefully.

Feeling his skin regenerating, he continued draining the blood until he knew he was pushing his luck. "Stefan.." The blonde warned and he sighed, rescinding his fangs. He looked up at Klaus who was still glaring down impatiently and began slowly cleaning the wound off with his tongue.

The puncture wounds sealed up and Stefan stood, slowly releasing his grip on the original's wrist, studying the other's silent expression. "Thanks," he murmured quietly.

Ignoring the part of his mind that screamed 'this is a bad idea' and begged him to back away, Stefan stepped closer, nose to nose with the older vampire. Ignoring the warning bells going off in his mind Stefan decided to go with his gut instinct and shot forward, sealing Klaus' lips with his.

"Stefan," the original smirked, pulling away. "I thought you couldn't be what I wanted."

Stefan groaned. "Klaus!" He sighed fighting the urge to do something childish like kick his feet out from under him. Of course he knew he probably wouldn't be successful but still – the thought was there. He huffed, stepping back away from the blonde.

"So, care to share why I had to save you once again?"

Stefan groaned. It was getting a little embarrassing to be honest, having Klaus saving him all the time.

"Obviously I didn't expect the well to be filled with vervain." He huffed, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Obviously." The original rolled his eyes before raising an eyebrow. "Don't have all day Stefan." It was a clearly a threat and Stefan tensed, wondering whether if he withheld the information, Klaus would throw him back in the well.

While they clearly had something between them, Stefan was under no illusions that Klaus was a good guy. He was over a thousand years old – the strongest vampire in existence, that he knew of anyway and it was safe to assume that he had his own agenda where Stefan was concerned.

"I wanted something that was in it." He admitted reluctantly before reaching down to pick up the box he'd dropped earlier. By the way Klaus' eyes shot to it he hadn't noticed it before and Stefan smirked, smugly, knowing he at least had some effect on the older vampire.

He pulled apart the wooden box in his hands, lifting up the white, cloudy stone that fell out. He didn't miss the imperceptible widening of Klaus' eyes, or the way he immediately took a step forward as if to take the stone.

Stefan pulled it back towards his chest, taking a step back and tilting his head to the side, a small smile dancing on his lips. "Ah, so you are after it." As Klaus moved forward he took another step back, dancing just beyond his reach.

"Uh, uh." He smirked. "Why exactly do you want the moonstone, Nik?" The original stumbled a little at that, knowing Stefan hadn't used that nickname since the twenties, always preferring Klaus instead.

Stefan was enjoying throwing him off-balance. He liked being in control for once. Stefan pulled the moonstone behind his back.

"Pick a hand Klaus," he grinned, watching as the blonde's face fell into an unimpressed glare.

"Stefan, give me the stone."

Ignoring the warning tone, Stefan grinned, actually having fun. "Hmm..." He pretended to think about it, "no." He took another step back, still holding the moonstone behind him as Klaus stalked towards him.

"Stefan, the moonstone is very important, now give it to me." The original held out a hand impatiently and Stefan merely tilted his head to the side, studying his unimpressed look.

"I don't think so." He took another step and having pushed Klaus' patience to it's limit found himself flat on his back on the forest floor, head mere inches from having hit the concrete side of the well. The scuffled for a second, Stefan still holding the moonstone behind his back and Klaus struggling to reach around him, unamused by Stefan's idea of a fun little game of supernatural keep-away.

He stopped struggling with him when Stefan laughed out loud, grinning up at him. The blonde stared down at him resolutely, refusing to move, no doubt contemplating whether compulsion was worth the trouble.

Stefan grinned, ignoring the voice in his mind that once again screamed 'what the hell are you doing?' and reached up, pulling Klaus into another kiss and slipping the moonstone into his hand simultaneously.

Klaus stared down at him as they parted. "Does this mean you've changed your mind?" He asked hopefully and Stefan smirked.

"Maybe, you'll just have to wait to find out." And with that, he pushed the original off him and started out toward the boarding house, his mind spinning – even he didn't know the answer to that one. Had he changed his mind? He wasn't sure.

What he did know was that as far as anyone in Mystic Falls would be concerned, that well had been empty. There was nothing in there and he had no idea where the moonstone could possibly be.

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><p><strong>AN:** I kind of got an early birthday present too, new laptop! Not quite used to the larger size yet, I've gone from 10.5 to 14.5 inches, but I'll get used to it. Lots of writing - lots of practise :)

I'm actually thinking of writing a Steferine fic, thoughts?


	6. Six

Klefix? I'm sorry I made you guys wait so long, but to make up for it this is extra long and super awesome ;)

Disclaimer: Own nothing.

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><p><em>Falling Through Lies<br>_

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><p>"Look, I'm telling you it wasn't there." Stefan rolled his eyes for the witch to see. He was just about to make a mad dash out of the boarding house to avoid their little scooby gang meeting but unfortunately his brother was home for once in his life and Stefan was caught red handed so to speak.<p>

"I _saw_ it Stefan." Bonnie insisted, ringlets whipping around her face. She turned to Elena for support and at the brunette's slight nod whipped back around to glare at him.

"Well you saw _wrong_." Stefan enunciated dangerously. Did they really think they could gang up on him with evidence as flimsy as a silly vision? Come on.

Damon took a step forward at that, no doubt seeing his brother's very real irritation and wanting to make sure nothing happened to his precious Elena. Stefan scoffed out loud, turning his glare on the brunette.

"You know," he began, taking a step back and circling the two girls, "a week ago you would have taken me at my word." He noticed Damon taking another step forward and shot him an agitated look, gaze flickering over to Caroline a few feet away where she had been since the discussion began.

"It seems," Stefan continued, "the only difference now is that I'm not with Elena. So because I'm not dating our lovely little Katherine-twin here, I _must_ be hiding something." He raised his eyebrow staring at them for a moment before finishing bluntly. "Truth is, I just don't like Elena anymore."

Damon barged passed him then, their shoulders colliding as he made his way to Elena who was visibly tearing up. Bonnie glared darkly in a way that promised a vampire aneurysm if he dared to open his trap again and Caroline was looking increasingly more horrified at the turn their disagreement had taken.

"But-…" The blonde stuttered, staring at Stefan, mouth agape. "But you have to find it!" She exclaimed, bringing up her hands to grip her forehead tightly. "Who knows what Katherine will do to me if you guys don't get it to her!"

Stefan laughed at that. At least one of the other vampire's in the room had their heads screwed on right. From his experience, most recent and otherwise, Stefan was now firmly of the opinion that a vampire's moral compass should always point directly to self-preservation and never waver because of _feelings_.

As far as he was concerned Elena and the rest of her little friends always seemed to walk right into trouble and helping them was just putting your own life at risk. After all, you can save them once, but something else will just come along next month and put you back in your place.

Save the cheerleader, save the world? Yeah right.

"Look blondie, what _exactly_ did she say?" He asked firmly, having missed the first half of the dilemma while trying to make a miraculous escape into the woods. He hadn't fed today alright? Even Bambi was better than nothing.

"She said to tell you guys that she wants the moonstone," Caroline said grimly, "or she would '_rip this town apart until it rains blood_'" She raised her fingers in quotation marks then and shook her head from side to side in the way that only a high school gossip queen could.

He snorted, trying to keep a straight face at the last minute lest he bring more disapproval down on himself. Obviously he was unsuccessful.

"It's not funny Stefan!" Elena yelled and he couldn't help but break into full on laughter then.

"Yeah it is!" He choked, swearing tears were about to come to his eyes. "Rains blood? She's so corny!" Even Damon couldn't help but crack a smile at that, though the girl's remained unamused.

"Anyway!" Damon cut in before another argument could break out. "It's easily solved." He said, walking back to the centre of the room. "All we have to do is go to this stupid ball thing that's on tonight, _pretend_ we're going to give her the stone – then we kill her! Easy."

Stefan rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't exactly call it easy Damon." They couldn't bite off more than they could chew here, Katherine was over five hundred years old she was stronger than they could ever dream of being, not to mention a manipulative bitch.

"Are you sure we can't just find the stone?" Caroline asked anxiously and Stefan had the feeling that if she weren't such a composed elitist-type that she would be wringing her hands nervously.

"No." Damon said simply, daring the rest of the room with his eyes to contradict his 'master plan'. Yeah, they all knew exactly how well _those_ tended to go.

"If we're going to do this we have to be really careful. It's not going to be easy." Inwardly Stefan wondered why he was planning on being involved at all, remember that self-preservation thing he was talking about earlier? Yeah, he should use it and just not get involved.

But, getting rid of Katherine for good? That was tempting. He couldn't say he wasn't holding a grudge there – maybe not as big as Damon's but it was still solid enough reason for him to jump on a chance to pay her back twice over. Killing Katherine for good…that deserves a try in his book.

"Don't worry so much Stef, you'll get wrinkles." Damon waved him off, taking no notice of the glare he was sent in return.

The vampire's tensed as their sensitive ears picked up a visitor trudging through the hallway. Conveniently enough it was Ric and Damon jumped at the chance to fill him in on 'the plan'. Stefan barely restrained himself from adding a stupid comment like 'the plan 4.0' at that, because really, Damon had definitely had enough chances at these master plans and something always, always went horribly wrong.

He edged towards the door then, hoping he could finally make an escape before he was assigned an important (and by important he meant dangerous) role in the kill Katherine caper.

"Where do you think you're going?" Damon called out indignantly and Stefan grunted, stilling just outside the threshold.

"To find some people to eat!" He yelled back truthfully, waving them off with a hand over his shoulder. He could literally _feel_ the girls tense and Damon's gaze boring into the space between his shoulder blades as he left the house.

They would think about it, probably discuss the incident between themselves for a few minutes and then decide that even though Stefan wasn't together with Elena anymore, he definitely wouldn't be out killing humans – that would be evil!

He smirked sardonically to himself. Even if they thought he was on human blood, they would never assume he was drinking from people; they had an image of a vegetarian Stefan cemented far too well in their brains for them to think anything else. Even Damon.

He was just lucky, he mused as he flitted through the trees, that vampires in the real world weren't anything like that Twilight movie Elena made him watch and their eyes didn't reflect what they'd eaten. I mean, where did that even come from right? Animal blood was still red, that much Stefan definitely knew.

He sighed, moving through the forest sedately now. He really didn't want to feed off animals. While it might have sustained his current strength for a day or two, make no mistake it still tasted like shit.

He usually didn't feed in Mystic Falls because someone would definitely figure it out. The last thing he needed was the council on his back. He had unfinished business here and his vampirism becoming widespread knowledge to the citizens would definitely throw a spanner in the works.

He couldn't make it all the way out of town and back again though in time to be ready for the Masquerade Ball tonight and there was no way in hell he was going to miss the show.

That being said, he quickly made a decision changing course from the steady pumping of a deer's heart he could hear a few miles away and heading back in town and to the Mystic Grill.

He scanned the bar as he entered, finding a hot blonde conveniently seated by herself at the end of the bar. Smirking he made his way over - sliding smoothly into the stool next to her and ordering a whiskey from the bartender. She glanced over at him when she thought he was focused elsewhere, taking in his appearance in a manner she thought was subtle.

He drained his drink slowly, not glancing up but inwardly he was satisfied. Hook, line and sinker.

When the bartender moved to serve another patron at the opposite end of the bar his head shot up, catching the girl's gaze sharply. "Come with me." She slipped her hand into his and he led her into the bathroom, ignoring the looks it garnered from the other customers.

Risqué. He missed the years where he spent all his days like this. Hiding on plain sight – on the edge. "Don't make a sound." He whispered, pushing her up against the wall and sinking his fangs into her throat. He moaned at the sharp taste promising himself to never wait this long again. Twenty four hours was just too much. He groaned as he forced himself to pull away, licking his fangs clean and sucking on his bottom lip to make sure h got it all.

He licked over the still bleeding wound slowly, stopping the blood flow and then sighed. "I really wish I could kill you." Her eyes were wide with shock, body trembling knowing she wanted to scream but unable to make a sound.

He pulled her hair out of its pony tail, brushing it down on her neck to cover the marks. Looking her in the eye once more he intoned, "you will forget this ever happened, if anyone asks," he smirked, "you just had the most amazing quickie of your life."

She nodded once before staring dazedly forward with a frown. Once her eyes refocused she blushed at the implication of her falsified knowledge and dashed out the door, straightening her skirt as she went.

Stefan sighed, closing his eyes and thumping his head against the wall. He would have to find another couple of sorority girls to eat at this rate before he'd stop feeling hungry. He would have to feed before tonight otherwise he could be distracted by his appetite.

The door opened then and he straightened up, eyes popping open in a glare, faltering at the face that greeted him.

"What're you doing here?" He asked sharply, feeling a little irritated at the turns his day was taking.

The blonde smirked, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms. "Isn't it obvious? I'm here for a quickie."

Stefan's eyes lit up at that and he darted forward, seeing the humour dancing in blue eyes turn to surprise abruptly. Pulling the blonde forward by the hips he sank his fangs into the top of his throat, sucking indulgently at the blood that for some reason tasted vastly different to anything Stefan had ever had. Maybe the vampire in him gave it a little extra kick.

Klaus pushed him away roughly after a minute and Stefan fought to contain his pout.

"Not what I meant." The original huffed and Stefan's mouth tilted up in the corner. Klaus rolled his eyes at that.

"So, did you come to ask me to be your date?" Stefan smirked, pulling the older vampire closer as he tried to take a step back, this time sliding his fingers through the belt loops on the blonde's jeans.

Klaus maintained his composure, not giving an inch as he stared up at Stefan, seemingly dispassionate. "I'm not coming to the Lockwood boy's silly little ball if that's what you mean."

Stefan _did_ pout at that, making a show of it as he stroked the original's hipbone with thumb. "Please?" He asked quietly, knowing even as he said it his false sorrow would not get past Klaus' eye for deception.

The original pretended to look contemplative for a moment before leaning up to whisper in Stefan's ear. "…no!"

Stefan huffed, shoving him away at that, a glare furrowing his brow. "Why not?" He demanded, feeling a little bit childish but wanting to somehow con the other vampire into going. He didn't want to admit it out loud but he'd definitely feel better with Klaus as back up when this plan went south tonight as he was sure it would.

"Because there are certain people who I don't want my presence known to and they will be in attendance tonight."

Stefan's eyes narrowed at that. "Katherine?"

"Yes, Katerina." The blonde hummed, raising an eyebrow at him, just daring him to ask more questions.

Stefan couldn't help but let a little smile slip at that. "Maybe you won't have to worry about that much longer."

Klaus groaned, looking like he wanted nothing more than to slap Stefan over the back of the head. "Please don't do anything _stupid_." The vampire spat, "I'm not coming to your rescue tonight."

Stefan frowned at that. "I don't need your help all the time you know," he insisted stubbornly and Klaus smiled at that.

"Sure you don't ripper."

Stefan debated with himself for a moment before finally just deciding to ask his questions, even with the slim chances of answers being forthcoming. "What's going on Klaus?" He stared at the older vampire imploringly. "Why do you need the moonstone? And Katherine obviously has a place in this plan also."

The original stared at him darkly, calculatingly and Stefan couldn't help but add now that the dam had burst, another question that had been on the tip of his tongue for the past week. "And where's Rebekah?"

Klaus sighed. "Rebekah is close by." He answered secretively before reluctantly admitting, "I need the moonstone for a ritual and Katerina is on a warpath to ruin all my plans."

When Stefan raised his eyebrows in a 'continue' motion, Klaus flat out glared, lips turning into a thin line. "That's all you're getting for now."

Knowing he got more than he had expected and had something to mull over now Stefan raised his hands in acquiescence, backing off. "Alright then."

Klaus rolled his eyes once more knowing Stefan well enough to know that he definitely wanted more information and Stefan was like a bloodhound when it came to secrets he really shouldn't know.

"Come on ripper," the original changed the subject. "Let's go hunting." And with that he took him by the hand and dragged him out of the bathroom stalls and through the bar, out into the bright daylight.

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><p>When Stefan sees Katherine for the first time that night he feels the burning need to ask her exactly why she wants the moonstone and maybe get a little more of this mystery out of her. He knows though that Katherine can see right through him and will without a doubt know something is up. If she found out that Klaus was in town and knew what she was up to it could ruin everything.<p>

And for some reason Stefan kept putting Klaus above himself.

In seconds she was behind him then in front of him again, flaunting her speed unaware that Stefan was now feeding on human blood too and despite her age he could probably match her – he'd always been fast.

"Dance with me Stefan." Was it terrible that he knew he'd rather dance with her than with Elena – the thought crossed his mind. Despite it all he was wary of her. Wary not only that she may know what they had planned for her tonight but also that she was here for a reason much bigger than any of them and she probably wouldn't hesitate in knocking them off tonight in the now clearer grand scheme of things.

So he simply replied, "no thanks," and went back to watching the other partygoers. He knew of course that she wouldn't let it go just like that – this was Katherine they were talking about.

"Well then…tell me who I should kill!" She smirked at him, twirling her hair and pointing to one of the young girls on the dance floor. "Mmmm, she looks delicious."

Stefan smirks, raising an eyebrow at Katherine. "Go ahead Kat, I've already eaten." And with that he walks away, and into the next room, her shocked expression lingering in his mind.

"You know I'm not playing around Stefan," she followed him out. "Now give me the moonstone or I start picking them off one by one."

He was glad that everyone else was working on other parts of the plan because his little victory would totally have been ruined by the rest of the disapproving Mystic Falls gang. "See, I _would_ give it to you," he swung around to face her, "but I don't have it." He finished sarcastically, smirking.

She glared at him silently for a moment before her eyes lit up at something beyond Stefan's shoulder.

He turned around to find one of Elena's little high school friends headed towards them and he immediately knew how this one was going to go. It was only the three of them in the side room now and he could nearly roll his eyes at how predictable Katherine was. Maybe he was overestimating her.

"Hey Stefan!" She walked straight up to him, completely unaware of the danger she was in. "I can't find Matt- Oh my gosh Elena, you look so pretty!" Her attention was diverted quickly to a smiling Katherine beside him. "I love that dress!" She gushed, unknowingly sealing her fate with an attempt at conversation.

Katherine's eyes were joyful as she replied, "thanks! I love your necklace!" Before putting on a little pout and exclaiming, "oh wait! It's twisted, here let me help."

As she moved behind the girl she smirked darkly at Stefan over her shoulder before reaching up and swiftly snapping her neck. She threw the body smugly in Stefan's arms before tapping her wrist sarcastically. "Moonstone Stefan, tick tock!"

She turned to leave the room then but stopped, frowning at Stefan's lack of reaction. She turned back to look at him in confusion, tilting her head to the side.

He smirked. "I guess I could have dessert, thanks Katherine."

He couldn't help the glee that rose in him as she rolled her eyes, clearly not believing that he wasn't putting on an act. Of course he was dramatizing the whole thing just like she was, but he truly did intend to drink from the girl – why waste perfectly good blood?

He sent her a little grin before leaning down to tear into the teenager's throat, gulping down the rapidly cooling blood. He stopped a moment, looking up at her. "Want some?"

He would cherish the memory of her face forever.

Relishing in the fact that he'd completely thrown her off her game he blurred past her and outside, heading into the woods to dump the body. He'd only be a few minutes; there was enough time for Caroline to initiate her part of the plan anyway.

He went a hundred metres in before dumping the body, far enough away that nobody would find it tonight and if they were lucky not for a few more days. In the woods it could be easily covered up as an animal attack anyway.

He turned around to make his way back to the party, freezing at the sight of icy azure eyes just inches from his own.

"Got a little peckish did we?"

He may have been quick enough on human blood to keep up with Katherine but Klaus was another matter altogether. He knew for a fact that the older vampire was over twice Katherine's age and obviously much, much more powerful. Maybe that was what drew Stefan to him?

"Klaus!" He was more than a little surprised. "I thought you weren't coming?"

The original looked pointedly down at his jeans and jacket then. "I'm not." He corrected.

Stefan sighed, "then what are you-…" He grinned. "You're looking out for me."

The blonde glared. "You get into a lot of trouble." It was a reluctant admittance only brought on by the fact that there could be no other excuse for his presence.

Stefan laughed. "That's cute." If there was one thing Klaus didn't like it was humour at his expense – he did not like being made fun of, ever. If looks could kill Stefan would be dead permanently right about now.

"I'm not _cute._" He spat the word out dangerously and Stefan choked on the laugh that had been building up, trying desperately to keep a straight face. Seeing his struggle Klaus growled, lifting a hand to slam him against the tree behind him, holding him up by his throat.

Stefan stared for a minute before pulling out of his grip and feeling his feet touch the ground. "Of course you're not." Stefan leaned up slowly, stopping when his lips were a breath away from the original's.

And with that he took off, blurring back through the trees and to the Lockwood property, choking on yet another laugh when he heard the blonde's exasperated groan reverberate behind him.

He strode confidently back into the house knowing that not only had he surprised Katherine for the night but even if it screwed up his plans, should things go sour he still had the back up of Klaus.

He raced upstairs at Bonnie's nod, flying into the room they had prepared, finding Damon and Katherine circling each other.

"What took you so long?" Damon complained, wielding one of Alaric's stake guns while Stefan pulled out a weapon of his own.

"I was ditching a body!" He countered exasperated and Damon stopped to look at him. He was about to make a dig at his brother about taking his eyes off the enemy but it seemed it didn't matter because Katherine had stopped also, unable to resist the opportunity to cause a little drama.

"Yeah, Stefan kills humans now, were you in on that Damon?"

The room stilled awkwardly. Stefan was kind of hoping Damon would just play along because if Katherine thought she wasn't getting to them it was more leverage they had to move with. Unfortunately Damon was too shocked to capitalize on the opportunity and as quickly as it appeared it was gone.

"Oh, so it was a secret?" She pouted at him sarcastically. "Sorry, Stef."

Damon took that moment to fire a stake through the unsuspecting vampire's chest and she coughed, cringing as she fell to her knees. Stefan took the opportunity then to move forward again, taking the stake to her arm.

Stefan moved then, positioning himself for the perfect shot to end her once and for all when Jeremy threw the door open, flying into the archway.

"Stop! Stop! Everything you're doing to her is hurting Elena!"

Stefan groaned. You have got to be kidding. Really?

Damon must have seen his expression because he stared at him sternly. "Don't." His older brother growled and Stefan glared, throwing the stake to the ground.

Katherine laughed then. "You didn't think that you were the only one's with a witch now did you?"

Stefan smirked.

"Keep her here." He nodded to his brother. "I'll go kill the witch." Damon hesitated for a moment before nodding, shoving Katherine to the side of the room as Stefan darted to the door only to bounce back off an invisible wall.

"Fuck!" He swore as he realised they were trapped in the room as well as Katherine.

He sighed. No one else was strong enough to take on the witch and if Bonnie tried to let one of them out Katherine would definitely escape. He leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the room, trying to tune out Damon and Katherine as they got into one of their usual debates about their old love and all that other crap.

He couldn't help but speak up though when his memories finally caught up in his brain. "You bargained the moonstone." He murmured.

"What are you mumbling about?" Damon cut in, clearly a little annoyed still at the fact that he hadn't been in on Stefan's new living diet but knowing this wasn't the time to raise the issue.

He turned to Katherine, "when you made a deal with George Lockwood to fake your death, you offered him the moonstone in exchange." He spoke as he put the pieces together in his mind.

He couldn't help it now as his curiosity began spilling over.

"Why do you need it back?" He sniped. _To stop Klaus' plans?_

"I love you in a suit Stefan." Evasion.

"What did you need it for in the first place?" _Has Klaus' plan been in motion for that long?_

"You're wasting your breath Stefan." Damon cut in harshly.

Ignoring him, Stefan decided to dig a little deeper. "Unless it wasn't yours to begin with. In 1864 you faked your death…who were you running from?" He knew the answer to that now of course. _Niklaus_.

Katherine's eyes sharpened. She was onto his little game. "In 1987 you were in Chicago at a concert of all places with that wrench Lexi. Come on Stefan, don't look so surprised." He wasn't but she conveniently ignored that fact. "I checked up on you over the years. You were standing in the front row, dancing all night. You were watching Bon Jovi and I was watching you."

The words were spilling out of her mouth and into his ears but her eyes were telling a different story. _I was watching you more than once in Chicago. That's right, 1920's Chicago._

"Who were you running from?" He grounds out, gritting his teeth.

She simply mouths, "I love you." With a smirk and he knows. _She knows_.

"So how is he these days?" She lets out a grin at that and Stefan falters. _Fuck_.

"I don't know who you're talking about." They both know the truth now and it's a competition as to who will break first.

"Mmm," Katherine mused. "I remember the way you used to look at him," she circles him slowly, trying to intimidate him. "You're a sucker for love Stefan."

Damon's gaze is darting backwards and forwards between the two of them, unable to hide his confusion and Stefan is doing all that he can to keep his composure.

"Love?" He scoffs. "Hardly."

Katherine merely raises a brow at that. "Lie to yourself all you want Stefan." She flops back down on the couch behind her.

"What you should be wondering, _Katerina_," he hissed, stalking closer until he's leaning his arms on the headrest behind her, caging her in. "Is that if we were so close, what has he told me about _you_."

He felt pride in the fact that she looked visibly shaken at that. He was spot on the mark when he'd assumed that she would be terrified of Klaus. She'd faked her own death to escape him, the reason he was after her, spanning what? Five hundred years? It must be huge and it scared the _crap_ out of her.

"Now, do you really want to go demanding things from me?" He tilted his head at her glare, staring stubbornly into her eyes, waiting for her to break.

The door opened again then and a dark skinned girl appeared in the opening.

"Who are you?" Katherine shot immediately, glaring at the girl who was neither her witch nor the Salvatore's.

Infuriating the vampire more, she ignored Katherine completely, turning to Stefan. "I am Greta. The spell is broken, you're free to leave."

Katherine rushed to her feet at that and sped in a blur towards the door. She was stopped in her tracks a foot away as she fell to the ground, clutching her head and screaming. They looked up to see the girl, Greta, who must have been a _very_ powerful witch with her hand raised in the air. "You have friends in high places Stefan," she said as Katherine glared up at her, groaning.

"Now, go."

Not needing to be told again Stefan latched onto Damon's arm, dragging him bodily out of the room and down the stairs.

His older brother followed him through the crowd and out of the house grudgingly. "You have a _lot_ of explaining to do when we get home."

Stefan groaned internally. It was going to be a long night.

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><p><strong>AN: **I've been wanting to write a Delijah fic since pre-klefan. I might start that tomorrow. Maybe. Since Elijah's COMING BACK! WOOOO! What do you guys think of that one? I'm excited. Plus, have you seen the pictures of Kol and Finn? One bloody attractive family I say!


	7. Seven

So this was going to be way too long if I had of kept writing :| Eep, so not much Elijah yet sorry but there is brotherly bonding :)

Disclaimer: I'm poor.

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><p><em>Falling into Tricky Situations<br>_

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><p>When Jeremy comes to Stefan in the high school the next morning and they realise Elena is missing in action he really doesn't feel compelled to chase after her, or even find out where exactly she is at all.<p>

He is however curious about what part she plays in whatever _this_ is that is unfolding around them. It wasn't just Klaus' plan anymore, it was something much bigger than that. Klaus was involved, Katherine was involved and it was more than likely that a ton of other older vampires were involved as well. Stefan didn't buy into the sun and the moon curse farce, but he knew that it was something, something big and he had an annoying itch at the back of his mind that said Elena was at the centre of all of it.

He was determined to figure this out and he's already decided in his mind that the next time Klaus showed up, he'd force him to reveal his plans one way...or another. But for now, they'd have to figure out where the hell Elena went because if Klaus didn't have her and Katherine was in the tomb as Damon assured then there was a new player in town and that just wouldn't do.

"We have to figure out who took Elena."

The look his brother gives him screams, 'you think I don't know that?' and he rolls his eyes knowing that yeah, Damon wants to find her more than he does and for all the wrong reasons.

"This has Katherine written all over it." He suggests it lightly but Damon knows it's a warning. A question. _Did you let her go?_

"What exactly are you suggesting little brother?" His voice takes on a dangerous edge but Stefan's far from wary and just shrugs his shoulders.

"We all know that Katherine has a hold on you, same as Elena does." He's challenging his brother to refute that fact and Damon growls, jumping like dog who's had it's chain yanked.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Katherine is in the tomb." Damon is fuming and Stefan merely smirks.

"If you say so."

Damon shoots back then, "and how do you know it wasn't one of your, 'friends in high places'?" And now Stefan knows he's treading on dangerous ground. Damon had conveniently ignored their witchy help last night but apparently if Elena was on the line he wasn't going to be so forgiving, which was a shame because Stefan wasn't going to be forthcoming with information.

"Wait..." Damon seemed to change his mind suddenly. "Katherine did say something just before I locked her in, she said Elena's in danger."

Stefan rolled his eyes, sometimes it could be annoying being the only one who actual had any information around here, it was just irritating having to explain everything over again or come up with a myriad of excuses to cover up things better left his own little secrets.

"Of course she's in danger, she's the doppelganger."

Damon shot forward at that, reading him like an open book. "What do you mean by that? What do you know Stefan?" He ground out, gripping his shoulder tight enough that Stefan felt his collarbone creak.

"Nothing of importance Damon," he shrugged his older brother off, pushing him back in a subtle reminder that he was stronger than him, not anymore when Stefan was feeding on fresh human blood every day – a fact that thankfully had gone unmentioned until now, though he was sure as soon as they retrieved Elena Damon would spill the whole thing to her.

"What do you know?" Damon was near screaming now and Stefan sighed – he was causing a scene.

"The sun and the moon curse, it's all a farce, I don't know what's really going on but Elena's a big factor." He raised an eyebrow as if to say 'enough for you to shut up now?' and turned around, pacing once again across the grass. They needed to get her back.

"We need to go and find out what Katherine knows."

Damon frowned, reaching forward for his arm. "No, no! I don't think that's a goo idea!" At Stefan's look he elaborated, "you're going to go down there, get some tidbit of information and she's going to bargain her freedom and get out. No."

Stefan shrugged. "One; I'm not that stupid Damon, that's you. Two; what else do you suggest we do?"

Damon seemed to wince to himself before opening his mouth. "What about that guy that helped us with Mason..."

So Damon was onto him. Stefan almost wanted to laugh at the face Damon made at having to reveal that bit of leverage so early. He was sure though that while Damon knew Klaus was a powerful vampire and that he was in town for something big obviously, he didn't really have any idea at all.

"I don't know how to contact him, he just shows up." It was the truth...mostly and with that he pulled out the big guns, putting on a desperate face. "Damon, it's _Elena_." And with that they headed towards the tomb – he wanted to know what she'd been hiding anyway.

"Stefan! Damon!" The younger Salvatore growled in frustration, whipping around to see who had stopped them before they'd even left the high school grounds – and after the convincing it took to get Damon to agree too.

"Witchy." Damon said pleasantly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Jeremy just told me Elena's missing!" She spat out and Stefan rolled his eyes.

"Yes, yes, Elena's missing boo hoo." He got matching glares at that and continued, "we're going right now to see what Katherine knows."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "That's great but why don't I just do a locator spell?"

Damon looked at Stefan. Why the hell didn't they think of that? Sighing they set off, Stefan still feeling a little grumpy, following Bonnie into the school.

Jeremy met them in Alaric's classroom, candles and a map already set up, holding a dagger in his hand. "Ready?" Bonnie asked him. They were running on a strict time limit here.

And with that, Jeremy brought the knife down, slicing his palm wide open and Stefan flinched, veins appearing underneath his eyes instantly.

"Oh come on!" Damon exclaimed, "you can't be hungry already, you just _ate Amy last night!_"

Bonnie's head whipped up. "What?" She asked, voice deadly and Stefan groaned.

"Damon!" He shoved his brother back a few steps. Why couldn't that have waited until _after_ the witch had done the spell for them.

"What the hell is he talking about _Stefan_?" She spat, "You're killing people?"

He bit his lip, shrugging at the horrified look on her face. "No...Katherine killed her, I just drank her."

Damon took a step forward then, obviously about to remind them that they were running on a time limit but froze as Bonnie raised her hand and Stefan felt his brain begin to burn searingly and he dropped to the ground screaming.

"Fuck, Bonnie!" Damon yelled, "we're in the school!"

She released Stefan from her power and he snarled, launching forward and gripping her by the neck. Bitch.

"Stefan!" Damon pulled him away forcefully by the shoulders, throwing him bodily across the room. "Can we just get this spell done please?" He glared at Stefan, then Bonnie before backing away slowly.

The witch approached the table again, glaring across the room at him the whole time and Stefan stayed motionless in the corner, glaring darkly back at her.

Jeremy raised his still bleeding hand over the map and Bonnie closed her eyes, focusing her power as Jeremy's blood dropped down onto the paper.

"Got it!" Damon called, throwing a hand behind him as he made for the door. "Let's go Stef!"

Stefan followed silently, well aware of Bonnie's eyes burning holes into his back.

* * *

><p>Stefan stared across at Damon in the car, his arm hanging out the open window as the road zipped by.<p>

"So...who do you think took her?"

Damon glanced across at him, frowning. "Someone from Katherine's past. She said she was running from someone, maybe they got the wrong girl?"

Stefan stiffened at that and Damon sent him a sharp look.

"If you know something..." He trailed off dangerously, clearly tired of all his little brother's secrets.

Stefan scoffed. "I hardly think I owe you anything Damon, especially after that little aneurysm I got thanks to you."

Damon glared and Stefan knew if he could, he'd be pulling the car over to the side of the road and forcing information out of him, but they still had eighty miles to go and they didn't have the luxury of time. Stefan sighed.

"It's not him." Damon raised an eyebrow at that and Stefan figured he had to reveal more of what he knew unfortunately. "Katherine's been running from Klaus for a long time, probably five hundred years. Klaus doesn't have Elena."

Damon looked at him wide eyed. "Wait, the guy you've been seeing? The guy from the 1920's?"

Stefan glared. "I'm not _seeing_ him Damon!" He settled back into his seat in a huff.

"Aw," Damon smirked, "let's not turn this into a brotherly bonding moment, but spill!"

Stefan rolled his eyes. "Yes, ok? Katherine's been running from Klaus for a very long time. Since before she was Katherine."

Damon frowned, "exactly how old is this guy?"

Stefan pursed his lips, remaining silent.

"Oh come on, Stef! You can tell me! I'm hardly going to call him a cradle-snatcher and all, look at me and Elena!" It was delivered with a small smirk and Stefan admired the subtle dig. Damon was trying to use humour and a tad of insult to make Stefan reveal everything he knew and it just wasn't going to happen.

"He's old Damon. Drop it." Damon frowned at that but did as he said.

"So...have you guys got to third base yet?"

"Damon!" No matter how old they got Damon still had the ability to embarrass the hell out of him no matter what the situation.

"Well come on, Stefan!" Damon rolled his eyes. "You let go of Elena pretty easily, I'm pretty sure there's someone else otherwise this '_road trip bonding_' would be you pointing the finger at me for how I feel about her."

Stefan smirked. "So how do you feel about her?" He raised an eyebrow, twisting in his seat to lean back against the door and face Damon.

Damon gave him a pointed look and Stefan sighed. He couldn't help but still care about his brother regardless of what he did.

"Damon, I couldn't be with Elena because she can't accept the fact that I'm a vampire." He looked across at his brother honestly. "And that's something you need to think about too. She won't accept the fact that you're a vampire and to be honest she won't want to be one. You're going to spend the next eighty years trying to fight your own nature while she selfishly grows old and dies, leaving you here alone."

The car grew silent after that, but Stefan couldn't let it go unsaid.

When they got closer to their destination Damon pulled out a blood bag, ripping it open with his teeth. Stefan pouted. "Where's mine?"

"Gee Stefan," Damon remarked, "do you think you can control yourself? Human blood and all." And there was the sarcasm, Damon was going to be pissed at him for who knows how long now just because he told him the truth.

"Yeah Damon, it's cold and it tastes like shit, I'm pretty sure I can handle it." He glared, reaching back and grabbing a blood bag himself. He was just trying to save his brother from repeating his mistakes but hey, if he wanted to love the silly little human who'd never accept him for who he was then let him. What did Stefan care anyway.

When they enter the house and start running amok, flushing the vampires out Stefan is actually having a little fun – he can't wait to try out some of these new weapons they got from Alaric. He's a little annoyed however when he locates Elena and pulls her to him, motioning for her to be quiet that she struggles away from him and out of his grip.

He rolls his eyes. She's going to ruin their entire plan just because she's what? Afraid of him now? Wishes he was Damon? He doesn't even know. When the vampire yells out that he wants the girl and that 'he's going to count to three or heads will roll' Stefan smirks. The guy has style he'll give him that.

Stefan shoves a vervain bomb in her hand and looks at her pointedly. She glares at him but moves do to as suggested anyway.

Stefan rushes the brunette vampire after Elena has thrown the grenade at him and can't help but let his eyes widen in shock as they tumble down the steps of the old derelict house. He's _strong_. Nearly as strong as Klaus. They definitely had a new player on their hands and without the element of surprise it would have been too much for he or Damon to handle.

Fortunately however, lady luck was on their side today and Damon managed to jam a makeshift stake through the older vampire's chest, backing him up against a wall and driving it through his heart before Stefan's could be ripped out.

That, was too close.

* * *

><p>Later when they're at home in the boarding house, Damon is on the couch wallowing with what must be his tenth glass of bourbon and Stefan wants to say something, anything. He kind of wants to apologise for telling the truth for making Damon realise that he was only going to get hurt in the end.<p>

But he doesn't. He just shakes his head and makes his way upstairs.

He freezes as he enters the hallway, well aware of the presence of someone in his bedroom ten metres away. When he opens the door he expects to see Klaus, he doesn't expect the female vampire who kidnapped Elena earlier that day.

He leans against the door frame, studying her. "Well this is interesting."

She spins around, raising her arms up in defence. "I'm not here to hurt you."

Stefan shook his head humorously. "Not that you could, but why are you here then?"

She laughed. "That's funny, you do realise I'm over five hundred years old." He shook his head silently and so she continued. "Lexi once told me you were one of the good ones."

His gaze sharpened at that. "You knew Lexi?" He wasn't the person he'd been when he was with Lexi. The lifestyle he led with her, it was good but it just couldn't last.

"Trevor was my best friend. For five hundred years I have lived with one person and now he's gone...and I don't want to run anymore."

Stefan glared. "Well I can't help you. Leave." With that he moved around behind her, placing her closer to the door in a gesture that clearly suggested she make an exit.

"I don't need your help, but I think you need mine." He raised an eyebrow at that. What could he possibly want from her? "Elijah may be dead, but this isn't over."

He stiffened at that. She had information. She knew what this was all about, what was going on and why exactly Elena was involved. He tried not to appear too eager as he approached her. "What do you mean, 'it's not over'?" He asked carefully, watching all her minute reactions.

"It isn't over. The originals, they'll come for her. They have to – they're doing it for him."

He sucked in a breath, mind racing. "For whom?" He asked quietly, even though he already knew the answer, his mind repeating it with her as she spoke it out loud.

"Klaus."

Fuck.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **So Steffie just killed Klaus' brother! Oh noes! :) Sorry about the lack of Klaus in this chapter but there will be a whole heap of Klefan interaction plus Eliajh in the next one...that is if you think I should continue? ;)

Oh and I just posted the first chap/prologue of my new DELIJAH fic because it's totally plausible :) Yeah, go check it out.


	8. Eight

Um, what the actual eff. Can you believe I'm updating twice in one day, what is wrong with me? And still no Elijah. But anyway, it won't really matter because after this chapter you'll all chase me down with pitchforks and/or never speak to me again. Yep.

I also want to thank my non-account reviewers who always leave beautiful feedback on all my fics. Honestly if it were still allowed I'd reply to you all on here because you're all amazing and everytime you review it puts a smile on my face :) So thanks, especially Rebekah-Smith, kat, di, tony, starkit & doodlechick12 ...and I'm sure I forgot a few :)

Disclaimer: Don't own JoMo :'(

* * *

><p><em>Falling into Despair<br>_

* * *

><p>When Stefan wakes it's usually slowly. He's learned to appreciate the small things in life like sleeping in and the warmth of sunlight filtering in through the open window and onto his skin. He hasn't had to live without the sun before like other vampires, he's lucky in that. But he's come to appreciate it simply for that fact that he's aware it could be taken from him.<p>

He's tired this morning, their road trip yesterday and the emotional warfare with Damon taking it's toll on him. Contrary to popular belief (or what he was sure it would be now that Damon let his lunch habits slip), he doesn't have the 'switch' flicked off. He felt. He had emotions. He cared about himself.

He just didn't care about stupid things that didn't concern him. If he were to be honest he _did_ still care about Elena...and Bonnie and Jeremy and the rest of their gang. If he didn't he'd be out there ripping their throats out for the way they were scorning him.

He cared. At least a little. But he was angry – they knew full well that he was a vampire. They had always known that, but for some reason they couldn't accept his nature and that just irked him to no end. He wouldn't let them get themselves killed if it wasn't inconvenient for him to step in put it that way but he didn't think he owed them any more than that considering how they were treating him.

He sighed as he returned to conciousness, eyes flickering behind his lids as the suns rays shone down on his face. He yawned contentedly, stretching up an arm behind his head only to stop when his hand collided with a solid object.

He scrambled backwards across the bed at supernatural speed falling ungracefully off the end. He recognised the melodic laugh and rose to his feet grumbling and rubbing his eyes. "Klaus!" He moaned, blinking against the harsh light as his eyes adjusted.

The original merely raised an eyebrow innocently and Stefan frowned, throwing himself back down in his previous place, the alarm clock on the bedside table informing him it was only seven am.

"What are you doing here?" Stefan mumbled quietly, closing his eyes and attempting to get at least a little more sleep. While they didn't need as much as humans it was a common myth that vampire's had no need for sleep – in fact, Stefan was grumpy when he didn't get enough just like everyone else.

"Hmm, no particular reason, just that your little girlfriend is planning to go and see Katerina today and I really don't want her to."

Stefan knew that was a pointed hint. 'Go and stop Elena from getting information I don't want her to know'. "Mmmm," Stefan pretended to contemplate. "Go fuck yourself, Klaus." He wasn't anybody's lapdog.

"Stefan..." Klaus warned darkly and the younger vampire rolled his eyes.

"You woke me up." He finally opened his eyes again to look pointedly up at the blonde. "I don't care what you need." He sent a fierce glare after that just to make sure that his point got across. He knew how persistent Niklaus could be though so he wasn't terribly surprised when the original spoke again.

"I think it's more about what you want Stefan..."

At Stefan's confused frown the blonde smirked before rolling over and on top of him.

Stefan grinned.

"Mmm, as nice as this is, that's my game Klaus," he smirked, rolling his hips upwards. "You can't beat me at it."

He knew the moment the words left his mouth he shouldn't have said them – he knew better than to word anything as a challenge around Klaus (or at least he should of anyway). As the older vampire smirked and began kissing down his neck Stefan knew he had to find a way out of this situation before he lost this little game.

Stefan hated losing.

"I killed your brother yesterday."

Yeah, that one was a mood killer.

"What?" Klaus hissed, azure eyes flashing darkly and Stefan sighed, if he had of just shut up he'd be getting some right about now, but no, he just had to be competitive.

"Some vampire's kidnapped Elena yesterday to hand her over to Elijah. When Damon and I went and got her we staked him. Well, Damon did anyway, I was too busy being thrown down the stairs." He couldn't help but let a small pout escape at that last part. Of course he wouldn't have let Elena die...really. He didn't think he would have anyway. But getting steam rolled down a flight of stairs sucked on any day.

Klaus frowned. "How much do you know exactly?"

Stefan glared seeing the scepticism on the older vampire's face. He was a hundred and fifty and from Mystic Falls – safe to say he'd picked up a few things in his time. "I'm not stupid." He pushed Klaus off him, writing the morning off as ruined and deciding to get up.

Klaus simply took Stefan's previous spot, making himself at home, hands folded behind his head. "I know that love, it was a simple question – no need to get testy."

Stefan frowned. How could someone be so endearing and flipping rude in the same sentence. He was going to write it off as the accent – that must be it. Sighing, he realised he wasn't going to get out of this one and sat back down. Besides, while he could just ignore the original this way he might actually get some answers.

"I already knew that Katherine had been running from you. What I now know is you have a brother, Elijah who is after Elena. The vampire Rose thought it was for you and I didn't bother correcting her." Klaus raised an eyebrow at that but remained silent. "Elena is necessary in some way for this big ritual that involves the moonstone and your witch Greta. I'm guessing this spans back thousands of years and Katherine was supposed to be involved but she's a selfish bitch and turned herself, hence running from you guys. So now it's Elena."

Klaus looked contemplative but impressed at the same time. "Well done Stefan."

Stefan ignored the sarcasm and continued, gritting his teeth. "What I don't understand is what exactly this ritual is. Care to elaborate?"

Klaus stared down at him seriously then. "That depends. Can I trust you Stefan?"

Stefan glared, shooting back sarcastically, "I don't know, can you?" Sarcasm was totally unnecessary and probably worked against him in the long run but he was tired of people doubting him. He could hold his own in a fight, he was of more than average intelligence and though he wouldn't unless it suited him (which was probably the part Klaus was worried about) he _could _ keep a secret.

"I'm cursed Stefan."

Stefan frowned and blurted out before thinking, "really?" At the blunt look he could tell that must have sounded really stupid. Yeah, encouraging him to tell you more there Stefan.

"Yes, Stefan. I'm cursed and in order to undo this curse I require a witch, a vampire, a werewolf, the moonstone and...a doppelganger."

Stefan's mind was spinning with the information he'd been given. Though none of it was particularly new he hadn't imagined that Klaus was cursed, he just figured there was something to gain from whatever magic had to be done. Cursed though...

"Cursed how?" He studied Klaus intently hoping for any kind of hint that he might relent the information. At the unforgiving stare Stefan shrugged. "I know everything else Klaus, you know I'll find out eventually anyway."

The original groaned. "You are annoying like that." Stefan only smirked but waited patiently for the vampire to elaborate. Klaus didn't _look_ cursed, in fact he was stronger than your usual vampire in the first place.

"I'm a hybrid. The only one of my kind." Stefan stared blankly at that, realising that he wasn't exactly proving his previous claim of intelligence here but having no idea what the older vampire was talking about. Seeing his blank look Klaus rolled his eyes. "Half vampire, half werewolf."

Stefan's jaw dropped. "How is that even possible?"

Klaus sighed. "Maybe another time Stefan."

Stefan rolled onto his stomach, propping his chin up with his hand. "So you're werewolf side is...dormant? That's the curse?" He looked up at Klaus curiously, feeling his breath catch in his throat as blue eyes softened.

"You're not as dumb as you appear."

And now it's gone.

"So where does Elijah fit into all of this? He's trying to stop you? Why?" He spat out all of his questions in a rush.

"We had a falling out. Over a girl of all things."

Stefan snorted, "really? Over a girl?" He raised an eyebrow.

Klaus glared down at him, "I wouldn't be laughing Stefan, this girl had ensnared many a pair of brothers in her time."

The Salvatore's jaw dropped again. "No way. You're kidding..."

It was the blonde's turn to smirk again. "Yes, Stefan. Katerina Petrova – tearing apart brothers since 1492."

Stefan couldn't help but let out a laugh at what a sorry lot they all were. Elijah and Klaus, he and Damon. What was next, the four of them after Elena? Two down, two to go?

"So," Klaus began loudly, "now you know why you're going after Elena today – because I don't want her finding out what Katerina knows." He stared pointedly at Stefan and the brunette frowned again.

He had realised the moment Elena was mentioned as the doppelganger that she was slated to die in this ritual and he didn't know how he felt about that. His gut instinct was for the pit of his stomach to squirm about uncomfortably and reluctantly save the girl. But then he looked up at Klaus across from him and everything changed. It became a choice. A choice between them – Elena or Klaus?

He chose to remain silent on the matter but he could feel his chest sinking at the realisation of the choices he'd have to make very soon and the shock waves that would come of them no matter which way he went.

"Alright, I'll have a shower and then go stop Elena." He rolled his eyes for effect even though his insides were still churning over the recent realisations.

"Stefan." Klaus' arm shot out and grabbed his own at lightening speed, pulling him back towards him. "You may have staked Elijah but he won't be dead." At Stefan's frown he continued, "we're originals, it takes more than a stake to kill us."

He was burning to ask the hybrid to elaborate, curiosity filling him but at the same time he could feel that bringing it up and asking the question would be a betrayal on his part so he kept his queries to himself and merely nodded silently before getting up and moving to the en-suite bathroom.

He stopped in the doorway and turned around, leaning against the wall with a smirk. "Well, are you going to join me?"

* * *

><p>"So you got Mason Lockwood to find you the moonstone." Elena's voice filtered up the stairs and Stefan winced. Damn it.<p>

"Right again." That was Katherine...had Elena come here alone? She really was stupid, honestly.

"What else do you need to break the curse?"

Stefan swore in his head, racing down the rest of the steps and appearing behind Elena in seconds. "And I think that's quite enough."

They both shot around to look at him and he smirked, reaching forward and taking Elena's wrist, "let's go Elena."

She struggled against him even though they both knew his iron grip would never let up to human strength. "Let me go! This is none of your business Stefan!" She glared. He was tempted to tell her that yes, this was in fact his business since it was to do with Klaus who was his...friend. But that wasn't a good idea and he was ever so grateful he'd never mentioned Klaus' name that day in the Lockwood cellar.

It would be unfortunate if more than just Damon knew his 'old friend' was Klaus, especially with all this pesky ritual/doppelganger stuff coming out.

"Come _on_ Elena, you don't need to listen to a word she says, she lies anyway." He pulled on her arm again trying to get her to leave but not pull hard enough to bruise – god knows he had enough problems with Bennett witch as it was without adding more to it.

"You lost any right you had to speak to me when you wanted to let me die just to kill Katherine!" The doppelganger spat and Stefan glared over her shoulder at the five hundred year old vampire, clearly sending a look that said 'what did you tell her that for?'.

"I wouldn't have actually let you die Elena, you know that."

She looked hesitant a moment before pulling her arm away from him fiercely. He let her go, watching as tears filled her eyes. "No I don't Stefan. You're not yourself anymore!" She glared at him, her lower lip quivering dangerously. "I spoke to Bonnie you know, she told me how you were k-killing humans." She choked on the statement, looking up at him pleadingly.

"This isn't you Stefan! You've got the switch turned off or something, you must have! Because this isn't you!" She hugged herself and Stefan noticed Katherine watching enraptured from the entrance of the tomb.

"No Elena, I do feel – just not for you." It was harsh but it needed to be said. They were never going to get back together and if she was still holding out hope that he would feel something then that was the only reason for it.

She shook her head. "No, you're lying Stefan. You'll see."

She sprinted up the stairs at that and out into the trees and he didn't make any move to stop her. He was mulling over her last comment wondering what exactly it could mean. He would see? See what? Was she going to try and seduce him? Make him feel for her again?

He shook his head. She couldn't do anything. He was himself and that's all there was to it – sooner or later she'd see that for herself. He just hoped she would come to her senses and date a nice human boy like Matt or someone before she broke his brother's heart.

"So Stefan, still keeping secrets from your friends?" Speaking of heart breakers.

"I don't know what you mean _Katerina_." He liked using her original name to her face, it scared her and he knew it and he was happy to finally get some payback on the queen of manipulation in any way he could.

"Hmm, you're working with Klaus, he's already here isn't he?" She smirked and he felt annoyed that she knew him so well. Like always she could read him like a book. "You know I thought it was a little strange you actually broke up with Elena when I asked, but you were just looking for an excuse weren't you?" She genuinely laughed now. "He's been here this whole time."

It was Stefan's turn to smirk – he didn't want Katherine winning all the points in this battle after all. "Yeah, he has. And he's been watching you." He stalked closer toward the entrance. "You know, I could convince him to let you go if you cooperate with us."

He saw the hope flit through her eyes even though she pursed her lips and remained silent. Katherine's strongest trait was self-preservation by a mile.

"You really think he cares about you _that much_?" She snipped and he had to put in an effort to keep his smirk from faltering.

"I don't think, I know." He folded his arms across his chest once more and stood silently waiting for a response.

She shook her head. "I don't know which I like better; brooding Stefan or this cocky ripper douche." And with that she disappeared back into the darkness of the cave, throwing over her shoulder, "come see me when you actually have a plan Stefan!"

Stefan rolled his eyes, leaning down to pick up the bottle of blood that Elena had left which was still over halfway full. He secured the lid and tossed it softly into the tomb before walking up the stairs and out into the woods. Hopefully that would win him some points for when they needed her. He had no doubt she would be useful for something – she always was.

He was about to get back in his car when his phone rang, Damon's caller ID flashing on the screen.

"Yeah, what's up?" He answered, climbing into his 356. As he started the Porsche up Damon replied, sarcastically, obviously thinking he was bearing shocking news.

"Elijah's not actually dead."

Stefan sighed, "Yeah I know," He muttered, pulling back onto the main street, juggling the phone and steering with his right hand, changing gears with his left.

"What do you mean you know?" He spat out. "Rose nearly got fried today finding that out!" He knew Damon was smart enough not to mention Stefan and Klaus' acquaintance to the new vampire until he had more information but it still didn't sit right with Stefan that he was spending so much time with her.

Of course, he _wanted_ Damon to find some nice vampire to replace Elena with, but something about Rose just rubbed him the wrong way – he really didn't like the girl.

"I only found out this morning alright?" He finally replied, stopping at a traffic light near the Mystic Grill. "Look I'll be home soon and I'll explain it to you." And with that, he hung up. He wasn't sure of course how much he was going to explain to Damon, but he would have to give him something about Elijah at least.

He couldn't tell him about the curse because to be honest, Damon would _freak out_. Elena dying was high up on Damon's freak out list and while Stefan wasn't sure he was going to let it come to that, he wasn't about to give Damon any inkling that could encourage him to go on a rampage. Damon's plans ended in disaster – that much was proven.

An equal part of him, as much as he didn't want to admit it was irked at the thought of betraying Klaus' trust so quickly by sharing any information with Damon. Of course nothing would stay a secret forever but if Klaus had told him this morning and then this afternoon he went and told Damon well...let's just say Klaus wouldn't be happy. Or sharing again for that matter.

He noticed more than one car as he pulled into the driveway at the boarding house and he groaned, not really up for a 'scooby gang meeting'. He could already see it now, Katherine said this about a ritual, how do we kill Elijah? Let's get the moonstone out, blah, blah, _blah_.

Couldn't he just get some sleep?

He sighed, parking the Porsche in the garage and making his way into the house. He didn't expect the be attacked as soon as he was through the door though. His arms were pulled harshly behind his back and he struggled desperately against the grip of what was obviously an older vampire. He thrashed, wide eyed, twisting his neck to see Rose holding him in place.

"I'm sorry Stefan." She seemed truly apologetic but that didn't stop him from snarling and dropping his fangs to try and take her out by the throat. He was suddenly aware of Bonnie and Elena across the room, Bonnie holding her hands above a gold basin, fire flaming above the edges as she chanted something. He could _feel_ the magic taking him, having some kind of effect on him and he struggled harder.

He gasped as his chest constricted, his heart seeming to fall through his stomach as his gut churned. _What was going on?_ His head was hurting and is vision began to blur. Finally the chanting stopped and Rose let him go, allowing his body to slip to the floor. His vision cleared for a second but was foiled again when his eyes filled with tears. He was gasping, gripping at his chest as he began to hyperventilate.

What had they done to him? Why couldn't he make it stop?

"Stefan! Stefan!" Elena was in front of him, her worried face filling his vision. "Is it working? What do you feel?"

He snarled, launching forward at her before stopping with a choked sob, collapsing back on his hunches. "What did you do to me?" He hissed. He could see dead people, flashing before his eyes, torn apart limb from limb but instead of feeling hungry at the sight...it _hurt_.

He grasped his hair tightly with his hands, tugging on it sharply, enough to hurt, enough that brunette strands fluttered to floor. "What did you _do_?" He yelled, he wanted to throw up from the emotions coursing through him.

"A little spell." Suddenly Elena had moved back and the Bennett witch was there. He wanted to jump up and tear her throat out, but as soon as the thought had even appeared he shuddered, gasping as tears made their way out of his eyes. His chest was so constricted with sorrow it was physically painful. "We turned your feelings back on, specifically you guilt, your sadness."

He gasped, breathing heavily. "Why would you do that?" He sobbed brokenly. "It was on!" He knew he should be feeling angry. He was angry right? He wanted to tear their throats out for bringing this upon him. But he couldn't – he didn't. He just felt awful, gut wrenching guilt. Every person he'd ever killed flashing before his eyes. His own father, god!

Where was Klaus? He _wanted_ Klaus. Klaus could fix this.

"It might take a day or two but you'll go back to normal," Elena said, looking down at him sadly. "You'll see Stefan, everything will be okay." She reached down to touch his shoulder and he flinched, scuttling backward, away from her. She looked horrified but a reassuring pat from Bonnie and she took a deep breath, resolve hardening.

"I'll see you tomorrow Stefan."

And with that they both left. And Stefan cried.

He never moved from that spot on the floor in the hallway, backed up against the wall. He couldn't move, couldn't sleep, _couldn't close his eyes_. They were there, all of them, screaming at him, begging for mercy and he choked on the bile that kept rising in his throat.

His head was throbbing painfully and his chest was so constricted it _ached_. He was consumed by grief. He was so deeply afflicted that hours passed like minutes and he couldn't move, merely scrunched his eyes closed and pleaded, _begged_ for it all to go away.

He drew his nails up his arms leaving thick trails of blood behind. He fell into a cold sweat as the shame overcame him and he gripped at his forehead above his eyes, nails leaving deep gouges that healed in minutes before being carved again.

He wondered desperately if he clawed his own eyes out would he still see these images, flashing through his mind? He would he was sure, so how did he make it _stop_? He wanted it to stop. Someone had to help him, anyone. Just make it all go away.

He sobbed in remorse and when enough hours had passed for the sun to make an appearance over the horizon, he finally found the strength to rise to his feet and move.

He walked forward, one step and then another and another until finally he was at the door. He opened it and stepped out into the sunlight, his ring dropping to the ground behind him.

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><p>Um, yeah. That just happened. 0.o<p> 


	9. Nine

Damn you guys are getting spoiled this week!

Oh and everyone go and read **Resolve** by _projectoverlord_ – it's worth it I swear :)

Disclaimer: Didn't get Alaric for my birthday this year :(

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><p><em>Falling to Pieces<br>_

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><p>Stefan wasn't a stranger to pain, the scorching pain associated with layer after layer of his skin being burnt off had become particularly common recently and he could manage to simply close his eyes, letting out a gasp every now and then.<p>

The ten seconds since he'd stepped out of the door and become bathed in the fiery agony of the sunrise felt like a millennia but any change was better than the gut wrenching distress he'd been experiencing all night. He hissed as his right forearm went up in flames and struggled not to scream out as he looked forward to the blessed darkness that would soon take him.

"STEFAN!" He felt the air leave his lungs and his collarbone crack as he was barrelled into forcefully – thrown through the air and back into the shade of the boarding house.

"No!" He yelled, struggling to get up again, his vision blurred with pain, blacking in around the edges.

"Stefan! Stefan!" Someone was yelling, gripping his face. "Stefan!" Slapping him across the cheek.

He looked up into Damon's eyes and moaned. "I just want it to stop! Make it stop Damon, please!" He was ridiculously close to tears again and his eyes flickered up as his brother turned to speak to someone standing behind him.

"Go and get some blood bags, now!" A terrified looking Caroline, obviously the one who had screamed earlier was frozen in the doorway, her face ashen and as Damon yelled she shook herself and sprung back into action racing down the cellar stairs.

"What happened Stefan?" Damon shook his shoulders and Stefan gasped out in pain, glaring up at him.

"A spell. They did a spell." He gasped, clutching his side. It was so hard to focus on Damon when macabre scenes were still flashing through his mind. He kept _seeing_ them, standing behind Damon, accusatory and enraged. He had to focus on Damon's blue eyes and only that. Just that. Otherwise he might just lose it, he was seeing things that weren't there.

"I know they did a spell, they shared with Barbie this morning and she came and got me." Damon pulled him back up into a sitting position as he began to slide down the wall. "But it shouldn't have had any effect, your switch was on."

Caroline barrelled back through the hall, dropping three blood bags down next to them and Damon held one up for Stefan to tear into with his teeth. As his charred skin began to seal back over and became only a mildly inflamed pink in colour Caroline moved to slip his ring back on, having found it by the door.

"Everything is enhanced. I keep seeing them." He closed his eyes, gripping his face. He wasn't just seeing them in his minds eye they were _there_, standing behind Damon taunting him, in front of Caroline, abusing him. He remembered the blonde girl, she was from 1904 and he'd torn her into so many pieces that no one would ever find her.

Now she was standing in front of him tearing her own limbs off piece by piece, sobbing all the while. '_Why? Why did you do this to me?'_

"Seeing who Stefan?" Caroline was kneeling next to him now, a hand rubbing gently on his shoulder.

"All of them. The people I've killed." He hugged his knees to his chest as the girl began laughing hysterically and he half expected to feel her appendages impact as she threw them at him. Damon stood up then, a dark look crossing his face.

"That witch is dead."

Caroline's eyes widened at that and Stefan groaned. "No!" He reached up, grabbing his brother's arm. "No! Don't hurt them."

Damon sighed, frustrated. "Why not Stefan? Look what they've done to you!"

Stefan winced as he shifted, reaching forward to take another blood bag. "They didn't mean it Damon, they didn't know."

"They cast a _spell_ on you Stefan!" Damon glared and Stefan closed his eyes, sighing as the blood made the pain in his temples start to recede.

"They thought they were doing the right thing." Stefan stood up shakily, holding onto Caroline for support. "Just go and ask them to remove it." He winced as a man he remembered as being on his 'list' from the nineteen twenties appeared behind Damon, brandishing a broken bottle – Stefan had probably used it to smash his head open.

Damon looked reluctant but knew as well as Stefan that he wasn't going to do anything to hurt Elena or her friends anyway. "Okay." He finally acquiesced, backing up and shrugging his jacket back on. "Blondie! Stay with him." He ordered, "I'll be back." And with that he was done and Stefan was left clutching onto Caroline.

"Come on," she said softly. "Let's go sit down."

Stefan laughed at that, feeling his mood lift for the first time since he'd come home the day before. "We're going to what? Sit down and watch a movie?" She really was something.

"Yeah, that's exactly what we're gonna do." She pouted at him. "You don't want to watch The Notebook?" She smirked at his expression. Of course, he had seen The Notebook before, but he wasn't going to admit that to her.

On a normal day he'd suggest a horror movie but it was scenes like that he was trying to stop from burning into his retinas so he was relieved when Caroline silently held up Th Hangover and turned the TV on.

"Thanks Care." He mumbled quietly. He felt little better now that he wasn't alone and now that he knew it would all be over soon. A little more reassured you could say. He hated how vulnerable he felt and the fact that he was annoyed with Elena and Bonnie. Being annoyed with them when he knew of course that they had good intentions made him feel guilty. Normally it would have a minuscule effect and he would shrug it off, not adversely effected by it but today the guilt was like a landslide.

"Stop thinking!" Caroline commented, slapping him on the arm. She sighed softly before leaning down to lay on his shoulder. "It'll be okay you know."

He nodded stiffly. "Sure Caroline."

She looked up at him and nudged him repeatedly until he'd look her in the eyes. "They're dead Stefan, who cares if you killed them, they aren't coming back."

He was grateful for her attempts to make him feel better and he did at least a little but overall he didn't think he _could_ feel better until this spell was lifted. Or maybe not, considering who he'd just spotted leaning against the archway out of the hall.

"Well this looks cosy."

Stefan had long since stopped trying to deny the way his stomach leapt through his throat when Niklaus made an appearance. Today though it wasn't hard not to give it away, he merely stared at the blonde vampire sullenly from his position on the couch.

Caroline had tensed up at the original's entrance, still wary since she'd seen him almost kill her mother. It was strange blend of emotions that were now running rampant through Stefan's body – he felt almost like he had a split personality disorder. Half of him was happy to see Klaus, the other felt terrible for even looking at him. _Monster_ it screamed and Stefan knew that was the truth. They both were – monsters. But he couldn't spend the rest of his life hating what he was, if only the humans could understand that.

"What's wrong?" Klaus asked immediately and Stefan cursed the fact that the hybrid could read him like a book. At the moment though he felt..._sullen_. He didn't want to explain, in fact he wasn't sure he wanted to speak to the vampire. The thought of him leaving was unpleasant also though so he merely shook his head and closed his eyes.

"Stefan?" Klaus was kneeling in front of him, putting himself in Stefan's line of vision, hands grasping his knees. He seemed concerned and Stefan let out a contented hum.

"He's not really himself." Caroline spoke up from next to him, finally getting over the hybrid's presence in the room.

"Yes, love I can see that. What I want to know is why?" He rolled his eyes at the blonde girl earning him a dark glare. Caroline could be quite the spitfire when she found someone condescending – she hated when people talked down to her.

"It's a spell. It amplified all of his emotions, specifically guilt and...sadness." She looked over at Stefan and then back to Klaus. "Damon's gone to get Bonnie to lift it."

The original looked angry then, rising from his place to look down at her. "Am I to assume the Bennett witch was the one that cast it then?" He raised an eyebrow and Caroline sighed.

"...maybe."

Klaus rolled his eyes. It was obvious none of Stefan's friends knew who he was just yet or they'd probably be showing a little more fear and respect when he popped in.

"It's a shame she's a Bennett witch," Klaus said pleasantly, "she could be useful later so I can't exactly rip her limb from limb."

Caroline paled at that and Klaus moved back to stand in front of Stefan again. "Come _on_ Stefan, snap out of it love."

Caroline dropped her voice to a whisper then, "I don't think he _can_." What he can do is hear you. But who cares right? He had moved into feeling nothing much at all now, just despondent. What is that? One of the stages of grief or something?

"What makes you say that?" Klaus was looking at Caroline strangely then and Stefan also wondered what brought her to that conclusion.

"He tried to kill himself."

Klaus blinked. "I'm sorry, what?" He shook his head.

"He took his ring off and walked outside!" Caroline hissed and then turned back to Stefan, blushing as she noticed him clearly following the conversation between the two of them.

Klaus was about to open his mouth again but stopped short at the sound of footsteps from the entryway. Seconds later Damon appeared, hesitating in his brisk pace for a moment as he spotted Klaus but forcing out a courteous nod.

Bonnie was trailing behind her looking chastised, biting her lower lip. She was receiving flat out glares from the other two occupants of the room and she sighed, moving to kneel in front of Stefan on the couch in a position eerily reminiscent of Klaus from earlier.

"I'm so sorry Stefan. We didn't mean for this to happen." She gulped, looking down at the floor. "It wasn't our place," she admitted quietly. She turned her head back up upon the lack of reaction and noted that Stefan didn't seem to have taken in a word she said, his eyes in a sort of glazed over fashion.

Taking his hands she began chanting in Latin and Stefan seemed to crash back into himself, attempting to pull his hands away. Sensing the distress coming Damon grabbed him quickly by the shoulders, holding him in place. "Let her finish Stefan."

She let go seconds later and Stefan felt himself lose control of his body as he lost conciousness.

It could have been hours later, he wouldn't have known but Stefan woke up with a painful throbbing in his temples but a beautiful lack of guilt in his chest. He sighed contentedly, stretching out on his bed, the hot midday sun beating down on his skin but without an agonising burn.

He rolled over and came face to face with Klaus who's blue eyes bored deeply into his own. "Don't try and kill yourself when I'm not around to save you."

Stefan's smile faltered at that and he groaned, turning to bury his face into Klaus' chest dramatically. "Can we just forget that last twenty four hours even happened?" He sighed, content to lay here indulgently and hold onto the feeling pushing all the memories and the _feelings_ from the night before out of his mind for good.

"Mmm." Klaus acquiesced, fingers tangling themselves in Stefan's hair subconsciously. "If I didn't need the doppelganger I would have killed her by now."

Stefan's popped one eye open at that, staring at the blonde above him. "Uh, thanks...I think." He frowned then before assuring his point of view on the matter got across by adding, "don't do anything stupid, ok?"

Klaus glared at him then. "They made you suicidal Stefan."

Stefan sighed. "You know me...over dramatic." He hoped that would be the end of it. He really didn't want to get into the issue of Elena right now with Klaus. If they did, they would just argue and he was far too content to let that happen.

Sometimes he wondered why he still stayed in Mystic Falls. Sure it was his home and Damon was here but this generation was more trouble than it was worth. If he left with Klaus it might take a few years but eventually Damon would move on and find him...he hoped so anyway because Elena wasn't jumping on the vampire-bandwagon any time soon. And in sixty years he could come home again to a new generation where no one would know him and they could start all over again.

What was so wrong with that?

He stared up at Klaus, drowning in turquoise eyes for a moment before blurting out, "let's go!"

The original stared down at him, a small amused smile coming to his lips. "Go where ripper?"

"Anywhere!" Stefan sighed. "Just you and me, let's leave Mystic Falls and just go." He stared up at the blonde hopefully, honestly only half aware of what he was suggesting.

Klaus smiled a little. "We will. But not yet."

Stefan frowned disappointedly, biting his lower lip. "The curse." He said quietly and Klaus nodded.

"After that we can go anywhere you want Stefan. Edinburgh, Valencia, Naples..."

Stefan closed his eyes and imagined. For as long as he'd been alive he'd never really been anywhere. He'd been to Italy once for a few weeks just to see what it was like, a little curious about his heritage but that was just to Rome and Florence. The idea of travelling the world with Klaus – no plans, just doing whatever they wanted...it was _so_ appealing to him right now.

"I've never been to Paris," Stefan commented. Paris was somewhere Stefan had always wanted to go. It was strange right? A hundred and fifty year old male vampire's dream destination – Paris? But he'd always wanted to experience Parisian culture and recently he'd been enthralled by the thought of visiting the louvre, Versailles, the Somme...

"The city of love?" Klaus smirked at that and Stefan laughed, smacking him in the chest.

"It's not funny!" Stefan pouted then, propping himself up against the headboard. He sits quietly for a moment before daring to ask, "is there any other way?"

Klaus doesn't have to clarify what exactly his question is, he just knows. "No." It isn't angry or annoyed, merely a statement of fact and Stefan closes his eyes wishing he wouldn't have to make this choice.

Eventually he would have to decide. But for now, he was going to keep his mouth shut and enjoy the rest of the day with Niklaus.

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><p>Days pass as they both avoid the topic of the ritual. It's a little hard when they're only seeing each other on the odd occasion Klaus sneaks into the boarding house and of course as the boarding house is such a hub for the supernatural beings of Mystic Falls someone is always talking about it.<p>

Caroline has been coming around more often to just sit around and hang out with him. She's been spending a lot of time with Tyler and though she's trying to keep as much about it as possible from Damon, Stefan approves so she finally has someone to talk to about it. If Caroline really liked Tyler then they'd find a way to make it work – or at least that was Stefan's opinion anyway. It wasn't like they were a human and a supernatural, they were pretty much on an equal scale.

Speaking of humans, he still hadn't forgiven Elena and Bonnie for what they'd done and refused to speak to them when they came by. He knew that they hadn't intended for anything bad to happen to him but they needed to learn to think about the consequences of their actions before messing around in other people's lives. And honestly, if he allowed them to try and talk to him he might just tear their throats out which was something he really didn't want to do.

He couldn't say he was too distressed when Rose was bitten by a werewolf either. Good riddance in his opinion – he never liked her before she held him down for a spell to be cast on him let alone after. Damon was a bit disappointed though it seemed so he kept his snide comments on the matter to himself for now as he was pretty sure his attempts at humour would just put him in Damon's line of fire.

As far as he knew Damon wasn't really talking to Elena either. If he could, Stefan would be dancing on the table, yelling hallelujah to the world, but that would ruin his cocky ripper douche image. Like he said to Damon, it wasn't that he didn't like Elena, in fact a part of him very, _very_ deep down could admit to still loving her, at least a little bit. He just didn't want his brother to get hurt.

Even more of an issue to him at the moment was that Elena had tried to contact her biological mother, Isobel and it had resulted in John Gilbert coming to town. Great, just what they needed. Besides the fact that John had never liked him in the first place and the fact that, now that he'd actually broken his little girl's heart he'd probably already be feeling pretty murderous towards him – John seemed to know more than he should. It was even just a gut feeling Stefan had, that John knew about Klaus and all this doppelganger stuff from the beginning. So Stefan had to hope that John didn't find out he was in league with Klaus or he really would stake him before he had a chance to explain.

The night that Rose died and Damon had stormed out, Stefan was sitting in the living room with Klaus, watching a movie with a glass of bourbon in one hand. He knew Damon would need time to process everything that had happened because for some reason he seemed to genuinely care for Rose.

He didn't want to go chasing after his brother and push him into talking about it because he knew from experience that would just make things worse. He knew his brother well even if it didn't seem like it. When Damon stumbled in later though, his shirt covered in blood and a distraught look in his eyes Stefan wished he had of just gone with him.

He stood up as Damon went straight to the liquor cabinet, filling a glass of bourbon and downing it in one gulp. As he went to refill the glass again Stefan put out a hand to stop him. Suddenly Damon lashed out, knocking Stefan's hand out of the way and throwing the tumbler he was holding into the fireplace, glass shattering everywhere and the flames jumping up, fuelled by the remainder of the alcohol.

"What happened?" Stefan asked softly and Damon stared blankly ahead, unresponsive.

Klaus signified his leave by a trail of fingers over Stefan's neck and the younger vampire gave a thankful nod before turning back to his brother. "Whatever you did, it's fine."

Damon looked up at him then and Stefan could practically _feel_ the guilt swimming in his eyes. "Jessica. Her name was Jessica."

Stefan waited for him to elaborate and his eyes softened when Damon looked pointedly down at his bloodstained shirt and back up again. "Damon...it's ok."

"No! No it's not Stefan! It's not."

Stefan pulled his brother into a hug. This wasn't about the death of one girl. This was about Damon trying and failing to be the vampire that a human wanted. That Elena could love. This was the beginning of Damon realising that maybe his love for Elena would never be enough for things to work out for them and he was grieving. Grieving the loss of that chance at human life they had both been dying to have.

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><p><strong>AN:** Thoughts? Honestly, I didn't mean for you all to hate Bonnie and Elena because I love them, I really do I just think Elena would have a hard time letting go and with humans being killed in Mystic Falls Bonnie would be pretty righteous about stopping him.

So, I really want to join in the big VD comm on tumblr, but I'm a tumblr n00b and have no friends, so come find me so we can chat! :D TQBF(dot)Tumblr(dot)com (:

Delijah is the next update for sure :)


	10. Ten

So I'm pretty sure I really like this one, just saying...that is...if you guys like it?

Just kidding! If you don't, GTFO! :)

Disclaimer: Don't own much except the crazy shit.

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><p><em>Falling into Your Arms<br>_

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><p>Stefan was channel surfing at around midday when his phone rang. He didn't really go out all that much anymore, no longer having to attend the scooby gang's little Grill sessions now that he wasn't dating Elena.<p>

"Hello?" He answered, half hoping that it was Klaus. He hadn't seen the hybrid since he'd left the other night and he was getting a little...anxious waiting to see him again. He could admit it, he missed him. It had barely been a blink and he was already going stir-crazy without an appearance from the blonde. He really had to get his phone number next time he turned up – it was crazy that he hadn't already.

"Stefan, it's Caroline." He sat up at the sound of her shaky voice.

"Care? What's wrong?" He frowned, worried that something had happened to her. Maybe her mother had broken the compulsion or someone else had found out about her.

"Can you just come over?" She asked and he stood up immediately, throwing on his jacket and balancing he phone between his cheek and his shoulder.

"Sure, I'm heading over right now," he assured her, heading out to the Porsche. He drove like a maniac the whole way there, overtaking more than a few unsuspecting citizens on the wrong side of the road – they just weren't going fast enough!

He practically threw himself out of the car and ran up the stairs to her front door, shifting his feet from side to side on the porch as he waited. When she opened the door she looked anxious but relieved to see him.

"Stefan!" She exclaimed, pulling him inside.

"What's up Care?" He asked, frowning as she wrung her hands together – something he thought he'd never see her do. Was she having one of her neurotic, insecure moments? Boy issues? "Is this to do with Tyler?" He asked as the thought struck him and felt rage rise in his chest as she nodded hesitantly.

"What'd he do to you?" He growled. Tyler could have been abusing her or something this whole time and none of them would have known thanks to her instantaneous healing abilities.

Her eyes widened and she shook her hands, "no! No! Nothing like that!" She protested, before biting her lip. "Promise me you won't tell Damon?"

Stefan nodded, "you know whatever you say stays between us Care."

"Tyler knows about you and Damon!" She blurted out, "He knows that Damon killed Mason. I promise you I didn't say a word!"

Stefan sighed, closing his eyes and running a hand over his face. "It's that woman, Jules? Damon's had a run in with her."

Caroline looked up at him with worried eyes. "Tyler was so upset. The look on his face – he was so betrayed!"

"Wow, this is bad." He commented, mulling over what to do. He kind of _had_ to tell Damon. He couldn't leave his brother without a warning when Tyler would be gunning for him now.

"You're gonna tell Damon aren't you?" Caroline interrupted his thoughts and he was surprised for a minute that she could tell what he was thinking before he'd even opened his mouth, but then again, they were hanging out a lot lately.

"I kind of have to," he said but then groaned thinking of what that would mean. "But then Damon might go after Tyler. Damon already thinks all werewolves should die, but now that Tyler will be coming after him..." He looked at Caroline very seriously, "Tyler could really get himself killed here." He wished he could tell her that it wouldn't come to that if he could help it, but that wasn't something he could promise, so he wasn't prepared to put it out there.

And if it came down to Tyler or Damon, or if the Lockwood buy was angry enough, Tyler or Caroline, then everyone knew who he'd pick.

"You need to help me Stefan," Caroline looked up at him pleadingly. "Please. Tyler's my friend, at least try and explain things to him, try and get him to understand...you always know what to say!"

He smiled at that and inwardly wished it were that simple. He wouldn't forgive them easily if he were Tyler either.

"Where is Damon now?" Caroline asked and Stefan frowned.

"He went to pay John Gilbert a visit this morning."

He was about to continue thinking out loud but Caroline beat him to it. "Which means he's probably neck-deep in some Elena related family drama that we can never escape." The blonde rolled her eyes and Stefan raised an eyebrow.

That was interesting. Then again, Elena and Caroline had never really been the best of friends as far as he'd understood. As much as he knew, Bonnie was the glue that held them all together, both girls were friends with the witch but not really with each other. Caroline had told him once in confidence that Elena had always gotten everything she'd ever wanted, especially boys.

"Look," Caroline shook him out of his shock. "I'll go and find Damon and come clean, give him a little warning that Tyler might come after him."

Stefan smiled at that. She hadn't wanted him to know but when it came down to it, she would choose Damon's safety over avoiding his ire. Caroline was around so often now it was like she was a part of their family – clearly she might feel the same way.

"Thanks Care, I'll go find Tyler." He moved to the door, getting his car keys out of his pocket once more. "Try the Grill!" He threw over his shoulder in regards to Damon's location and received a wave in response as the blonde locked up her house and headed to the Fiesta.

The drive to the Lockwood's was filled with numerous undesirable thoughts on Stefan's part as to how this might go. There were various scenarios running through his mind and none of them looked particularly winsome. He wouldn't have a problem with silencing the younger werewolf himself to be honest, it was only the thought of Caroline's reaction that stopped him from protecting their secret in a lethal way.

He pulled up in the Lockwood's driveway, removing the key from the ignition. He didn't bother to knock, merely slipping through the front door and up the stairs – thank god for all the social events that were held here, practically every vampire that visited Mystic Falls had an invite.

He closed his eyes and listened. Carol in the downstairs parlour drinking tea, shuffling papers and Tyler upstairs in another room, the office maybe? Tapping away at the keyboard of a computer.

He slipped into the room quietly and looked at the teenager tapping furiously at the computer, completely oblivious to the presence of another predator in the room until he looked up and sighted him.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Stefan spoke at his alarmed look. "I just want to talk." And if you don't want to cooperate, _then_ I'll kill you he thought silently.

"Why did you break in then?" The werewolf remained on his guard, glancing between Stefan and the door and then back again, no doubt deliberating if he'd make it out of the room on time. Luckily for Stefan he was no match for vampire speed without the full moon.

"Would you have let me in otherwise?"

Before the teenager could answer they both heard Carol's footsteps outside in the hall and Tyler made a dash towards the door, halted in his tracks by Stefan's hand around his throat. He held the boy in the air, squeezing tightly on his windpipe.

"Not a word." He hissed lowly, glancing toward the door and back again. As he heard Carol retreat, not getting a response from her son he dropped him to the ground, watching as he stumbled back, clutching at his airways.

Stefan sighed, he wasn't doing much for the werewolf's confidence in them, considering Caroline had sent him here to basically earn forgiveness and all. "Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot." He started, trying to come up with some kind of half-assed apology as he went.

"What happened to Mason?" Tyler asked abruptly.

Stefan stayed silent.

"You killed him didn't you?" Tyler yelled, getting in his face.

"It was in self-defence!" Stefan spat, "he left us no choice!" He could only pray that Tyler didn't find out Damon…played with him a bit before finally letting him die – let's just say they weren't the best of friends.

Tyler dived towards him, reaching out his hands for Stefan's throat. Twisting mid air Stefan took him by the shoulders and slammed him into the ground hard enough to crack the ancient timber floorboards underneath.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Tyler." He snarled, bending down to hiss in the were's ear, "without the full moon, you're no match for me." He understood where the boy was coming from, he'd just been thrust into this world alone with no one who understood and no one to turn to but Caroline, only to find out Caroline was hiding his uncle's death the whole time and at the hands of her friends – her kind – no less.

Yeah, Stefan understood. Didn't mean he was going to take shit from the kid though. "Now, you're going to shut up and listen and you'd better pay attention!" He threatened, releasing his grip on Tyler's throat.

"You are going to accept the fact that your uncle's dead, there's nothing you can do about it – there's nothing we could have done about it." Stefan glares down at him. "And for some reason Caroline actually gives a crap about you, so stop being a dick to her about the fact that _we_ killed your uncle."

Tyler's angry stare remained, not budging an inch at the mention of the blonde vampire. "I thought vampires hated werewolves?"

Stefan snorted. "Don't be so close-minded. That's an ideal left over from another time." He slowly released the boy and stood up, expecting the conversation to become cautious but polite all the same, with no further attempts at homicide on the wolf's part.

"As long as you keep our secret, we'll keep yours and we won't have a problem." He resisted voicing the silent 'like your Uncle Mason' that went after that sentence.

Tyler seemed hesitant to agree to anything and had opened his mouth to speak when his cell phone rang. Before Stefan could shoot out a hand to stop him the teenager had already hit answer and screamed, "help! Help!" Down the line.

In seconds Stefan had torn the phone away and crushed it in an iron fist but it was too late, the damage had already been done. "Who's number was that?" He yelled, veins appearing below his eyes. "Damn it Tyler, I'm trying to give you the easy way out here!" He growled, advancing on the werewolf. "Do you _want_ me to kill you?"

After five minutes of holding Tyler up to the wall by his throat and threatening to inflict bodily harm the teenager still hadn't revealed who the call had been from and he couldn't _actually_ do anything that would mark the boy or Caroline would have his hide unfortunately. For some reason she wanted to be friends with the kid.

He sighed, frustrated and tossed him across the room.

"Look," Tyler said, getting up from the ground. "You want to be friends, cool, we'll be friends. Now can you just leave before my friends show up?"

Stefan glowered. "You really think your _friends_ will be any match for me? I could kill you right here, right now." He stalked back towards the boy across the room.

Hi phone rang before he was close enough to do something he'd regret and he frowned as Caroline's caller ID flashed across the screen. "Hey Care, is everything ok?" He asked, holding the phone up to his ear.

"That depends. How bad do you want to keep her alive?" Stefan hissed at the female voice on the other end of the line, clearly _not_ Caroline.

"Who is this?" He spat, keeping an eye on Tyler so the idiot didn't try and run while he was occupied.

"Ask your brother." She replied and it clicked in his mind. Mason's werewolf girlfriend – Jules, that must have been who was calling Tyler earlier. "Where is Tyler?" She asked and he grit his teeth angrily.

"Where's Caroline, Jules?" He sneered, coming to stand in front of the door as Tyler looked anxiously toward it after hearing Caroline's name.

"You made a mistake Stefan," she replied casually, "I'm going to give you a chance to fix it."

"Where is she?" He grit out darkly, fangs itching with his anger.

"Right here, want proof?" And Stefan hears the most gut-wrenching scream. Caroline's scream, filled with pain and he sees red.

"Hurt her again and I'll tear your fucking throat out." He snarls.

"I hurt her again," she replied, "and she's dead. Bring Tyler to me, the clearing by Wickery Falls. You have twenty minutes before she dies."

She hangs up before he can reply.

He glances down at his phone and then back at Tyler across the room before screaming in rage and blurring forward, smashing the boy's head against the desk behind him, dropping him like a rock.

He presses Damon's speed dial and waits anxiously for the three rings to pass before his brother picks up. "Where are you?" He blurts out, frowning as he hears loud background noise. He couldn't still be at the Grill? Had he seen Caroline yet or had Jules gotten to her before him?

"Caught up in a little Gilbert family drama at the moment, can this wait?" He seemed annoyed to even be involved with the usual Mystic Falls drama and it was completely understandable.

"No, it can't." He said. "Jules has Caroline, she's torturing her."

"What?" Damon exclaimed and he heard something fall over in the background.

"She wants to trade Caroline for Tyler but I'm betting it's not that simple. Meet me at the clearing at Wickery Falls, now." And with that Stefan hangs up. He's wishing he'd damn well gotten Klaus number last time he saw him. He couldn't just expect him to pop in and help them with all their problems but he honestly didn't think the hybrid minded too much. Maybe he was bored. A thousand years could do that to you.

It was only a few werewolves though, they could handle that right?

Growling, he lugged Tyler's dead weight over his shoulder and set off carrying the boy, a pained expression taking over his face as he judged it would probably be quicker to leave the Porsche behind and come back for it later. Who knew what could happen before then? What if it hailed? Highly unlikely but still.

He scolded himself for thinking of anything but Caroline and moved faster through the forest behind the Lockwood property – it was the quickest way to the falls from here.

It took him five minutes to reach the edge of the clearing and by then Tyler was starting to stir. He was lurking, waiting for Damon to show up but Tyler coughed, his eyes fluttering open and Jules called out into the woods. "I know you're here!"

He stepped out from the tree line, holding Tyler in front of him like a shield but keeping a tight grip so as not to lose his leverage. "Where's Caroline?" He glared, looking around. The trailer behind Jules, she must be there.

"Locked up tight." The blonde replied, crossing her arms.

"Release Caroline and I'll give you Tyler. Don't make this any messier than it has to be Jules." He replied pleasantly, a false smile gracing his lips. "No one has to get hurt here."

"It's a little late to be waving the white flag don't you think?" She asked, showing no signs of moving towards the trailer and Stefan sighed – he knew it would be like this. The werewolves pack mentality was a pain in the ass, an offence against one was an offence against all of them, there was no way they were going to let him just walk out of here, not after the death of Mason.

"Let me rephrase that," he smirked. "Give me Caroline and then leave town, or I'll rip Tyler's fucking head off." He snarled, letting his fangs slide down and veins pulsate.

She looked sceptical so he thought a little positive reinforcement was in order. Reaching down, he took hold of a struggling Tyler's arm and _snapped_. Jules made to move forward, jaw dropping open but stopped as soon as Stefan moved his hands to Tyler's neck.

The boy was clutching at his arm, whimpering, still struggling against Stefan's grip.

"I'm not going to ask again Jules," he warned, sensing Damon appear from the trees behind him. He spoke up, not risking a glance back. "Took you a while."

Damon shrugged, "here now aren't I?" He turns to Jules, "where's Caroline?"

The blonde merely shook her head. "Give me Tyler first."

Stefan laughed out loud and Damon shook his head. "Do you even think that's a fair fight?" The eldest Salvatore asked sarcastically. "It's not the full moon, we _will_ take you down and you know it."

She smirked at them then, before whistling across the clearing. "Sure about that?"

Stefan tensed as he felt more werewolves appear from the forest surrounding them. Of course he had been expecting something along these lines, but he hadn't been expecting quite so many. Werewolf numbers were down these days and packs were usually relatively small but there was a fair few here...maybe too many for them to take alone.

"Give. Us. Tyler." She grit out, still trying to keep up a pleasant smile and Stefan smirked.

He turned, looking as if he were going to release the boy but at the last minute ground out, "fuck you." Snapping the werewolf's arm again, further up this time and dropping him as he let out a screech of pain.

The rest of the pack came flying at them then and it became a free-for-all. They're shooting wooden arrows at them and wooden bullets and he and Damon are dodging as best they can, pulling hearts out and tearing heads off but it's not enough, there's just too many of them. He can hear Caroline screaming from inside the RV, begging Tyler to let her out and he snarls furiously, ripping into another were in front of him.

He tries to fight his way towards the van, noticing an arrow heading towards his neck at the last minute and knowing it would be too late to stop it. A hand shoots out then, snatching it from the air and slamming it into the nearest werewolf's head.

He turns to see Klaus looking unimpressed as he tears out another were's throat. While Klaus is occupying them he turns and runs into the RV, slamming Tyler into the wall as he races through the door.

"Stefan! Stefan!" Caroline sobs in relief and he tears off the front of the cage they've held her in furiously. He runs his eyes over her mentally cataloguing for injuries. She seems shaken but ok and he breathes a heavy sigh of relief before taking her wrist and pulling her out of the van.

"Come on, we have to help the others."

She stumbles for a minute but then gives a hard nod and he feels pride rise in his chest. This isn't insecure, neurotic Caroline, this is brave, vampire Caroline, compartmentalising her crap for later and putting it aside to help them.

As they exit the trailer Stefan takes in the scene before him, there are two wolves fighting Damon and another four attempting to take down Klaus. He jumps from the steps, racing across the clearing when suddenly they all drop to the ground, hands covering their heads, screaming aloud.

Damon and Stefan's eyes flick to each other, instantaneously wondering what the hell's going on, but Klaus is looking across the clearing to where a dark man has appeared. Stefan hasn't seen him before, but he's obviously a warlock and by the look on Klaus' face, not one of his.

Why is he helping them then?

"Elijah made a promise to Elena, I'm here to make sure that it's upheld." Stefan's jaw drops and he stares over to Klaus. His brother made a deal with Elena. He knew they'd had their disagreements in the past but to make a deal with the doppelganger, obviously to keep her alive and keep the hybrid from breaking his curse...

Damon notices his shocked look and winces. "Yeah about that, you know how I said I was unfortunately involved in some Gilbert family business today..."

He refrained from glaring at his brother knowing he hadn't had any chance to mention it before, but it was still irking him.

The warlock turned to Klaus then, studying him. "Klaus." He said, sending him a dark glare and Stefan's eyes just about popped out of his head. Was this guy particularly powerful or just stupid? Blatantly disrespecting Klaus?

Klaus merely smirked. "I'll tell Greta you said 'hello'." He crossed his arms and watched on smugly as the warlock's glare deepened. So he was Greta's...father? And they'd taken opposing sides in the original family feud. Interesting...

The dark man turns to Tyler then who had appeared just outside of the trailer, still clutching at his arm. Ignoring the rest of them completely he said, "when your friends awaken, tell them to leave Mystic Falls."

And with that he turned and walked away.

Damon turned and wandered over to where Stefan was standing, clutching Caroline to his side and staring at Klaus a few feet away.

"So, since you interrupted me earlier, how about I go and suss out the rest of this deal from Miss Gilbert?" He smirked and Stefan frowned hesitantly.

"Damon..." He sent his brother a look and the brunette sent one back silently. _It's ok, I'm not going to fall in love with her all over again. I'm done. _Stefan nods and Damon takes off into the forest, only pausing briefly to put a hand on Caroline's shoulder and squeeze lightly.

Stefan sighed heavily, walking with Caroline still attached over to where Klaus stood. HE ran a hand down the hybrid's back lightly, waiting for the blonde to look at him. "I'm going to take Caroline home, meet me back at the house?" He felt bold asking to see him. It was strange. Klaus did what he wanted and Stefan had to go along with it, until now.

He receives a curt nod in return and Klaus disappears into the blackness. He pulls Caroline into his chest, walking with her the short distance to her house.

"Is your mum home?" He asks quietly as they wander up onto the porch.

"No, she's at work." She looked down and he melted a little.

"I can come in if you want?" He offered hesitantly, not knowing what to do in this situation but knowing that girls usually needed someone.

"I'm fine Stefan." She replied, turning to open the door.

He put a hand on her shoulder to stop her and replied, "you don't have to pretend with me you know?" He looked into her eyes, "anybody would be upset after what happened to you today," he says awkwardly, shifting his feet.

She smiles a little. "Really Stefan I'm fine..." she trails off. "But can you come over tomorrow?" She asks softly and he smiles.

"Of course I can Caroline."

She looks up at him. "Good. Because you've got a lot of explaining to do. This Klaus guy is after Elena...but you're seeing him?" She frowned, confused.

He opened his mouth to protest but she silenced him with a wave of her hand. "I trust you Stefan, I just want to be in the loop, you know?"

He nodded. "Tomorrow." He promised, "I'll explain everything tomorrow." With that, he bent down and hugged her. "Night Caroline."

His heart was swelling in his chest. _I trust you Stefan_. He hadn't had a real friend other than Lexi and now she was just gone. The wound was too raw to even think about but having Caroline around, having someone who trusted him with everything just as much as she did, even _knowing_ that he wasn't a good person...it made him feel...happy.

* * *

><p>When Stefan finally made it home and to his bedroom he found Klaus on his bed and quickly grew alarmed at the hybrid's bloodied shirt, the red liquid beginning to stain his sheets. Klaus' eyes flickered open at his entrance and Stefan hurtled over to the bed, hesitantly pulling at the shirt.<p>

"What did you _do_?" He hissed, tearing the fabric down the middle.

The hybrid put a hand on his arm, stilling his movements. "Don't be so dramatic Stefan," he went to laugh but it came out as more of a cough. "It's not life threatening."

"You were injured?" Stefan clarified. "This whole time?"

Klaus frowned. "It's only a few bullets," he muttered, "they just won't heal because they're wood."

Stefan glared. "I need to pull them out." He assumed, "why the hell didn't you say anything?" He growled, using the remains of the shirt to wipe away the excess blood, finding six small puncture wounds. A buck shot? They hadn't shattered though?

"I'm not going to die Stefan," the blonde muttered. "Stop being so dramatic and pull them out."

Stefan took a deep breath, bracing himself before pushing his fingers into the hole furthest from the heart, quickly popping the bullet out and moving further inward to the next. Klaus let out a small hiss of discomfort but was otherwise quiet.

He managed to get the first five out without a problem but the sixth was dangerously close to the heart. Even though it wouldn't kill an original it was close enough to make Stefan uncomfortable and it was clearly the bullet that was causing the complications.

He slid his finger down, wincing as it went to the knuckle before he felt timber beneath his fingertips. He flicked his finger, trying to get a grip on the bullet and Klaus groaned in pain. "Stefan!" He growled.

The brunette frowned. "Alright, alright, I'm trying." He avoided Klaus' eyes and the dark glower he was sure he would find, pushing until he could finally get some leverage on the cap, sliding it out with his finger and a whole heap of blood. The hybrid growled and the wound half sealed over but failed to heal completely.

Turquoise eyes blinked open to stare into Stefan's but then shifted down to the ripper's neck. "Stefan...I need blood."

"I'll go and get you some," he said quietly, making to retrieve a blood bag, brow furrowing as he was held in place.

Klaus smirked. "But I want yours."

Stefan pouted. He didn't really have the option of refusing considering the amount of times he'd drank the hybrid's blood to heal but he wished he didn't have to because for some reason the prospect made Stefan feel...attached.

He _wanted_ Klaus. That much he was fairly sure everyone knew, he'd made it pretty obvious and the hybrid seemed to want him, but Stefan wasn't sure how much. How long was this expected to last?

He had spent the last couple of days explaining to Damon why feelings for someone weren't worth being hurt over but at the end of the day should he take his own advice? Wait until he knew exactly where he stood?

Klaus reached up slowly, pulling him down softly by the neck. "You think too much, ripper." And with that, sunk his fangs into the supple flesh of Stefan's throat and the younger vampire was in _bliss_.

He rolled over, pulling the hybrid with him. Klaus ground his hips down as he drank and Stefan lost all rational thought. He tore the hybrid's mouth from his neck, ignoring the moan of discomfort and pulled him down to seal their lips.

Screw waiting, he didn't care if he was hurt in the end, it would still be worth it. Klaus was worth it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So? Hmmmmm? Worth the wait? Want some moreeeeee? I must apologise though, I've started education again this week *groan* so free time is short/updates will be less frequent sorry!

But you know with me that basically means once a week, instead of three times a week, so never fear! ;)


	11. Eleven

Warning: Ending is killer.

Warning #2: Don't scroll down, you'll ruin it :)

Disclaimer: While people insist I should write the show, clearly I don't so...

* * *

><p><em>Falling Out of Routine<br>_

* * *

><p>Stefan was a tactile person, if you wanted to put it bluntly; he was a cuddler – as much as he abhorred admitting it. Sure he wasn't the nicest of people, but he liked the physical reassurance that someone was there. So waking up 'the morning after' only to find his bed partner for the previous night gone? Total letdown! He didn't like it. Normally he would have a bit of a pout and move on, but last night he'd gone to sleep wrapped around Klaus and he damn well expected the vampire to be there when he woke up.<p>

He grumbled to himself, pulling himself out of covers and padding across the floor silently to the bathroom. He was a more than a little annoyed that Klaus kept disappearing all the time without an explanation. He knew obviously, even if he didn't want to admit it to himself that the almost-hybrid was obviously off plotting Elena's demise.

He wasn't sure how he felt about any of that still either – which reminded him, he had promised to head over to Caroline's today and explain and as much as he didn't want to, he never broke promises to his friends no matter how unappealing revealing the truth might be on his part.

He sighed, pulling on his jeans and a tee and slipping out the door. He could hear Damon talking to Alaric downstairs and he slid into the kitchen, pulling a blood bag out of the fridge before moving to join them in the living room. They didn't bother keeping the blood bags downstairs anymore since they were both drinking them now anyway. Plus the addition of Caroline to their daily visitors list meant their supply was demolished pretty quickly, even if Stefan fed fresh half the time.

"What's going on guys?" He walked in on a heated discussion judging by the expressions of both parties. He glanced hesitantly between the two as he waited for an answer.

"We were just discussing what we were going to do about Elijah." Damon finally replies, giving his only human friend a stern look.

"What do you mean, 'what you're gonna do'?" Stefan questions worriedly, assuming there's some kind of plan about to be terribly executed that he's unaware of.

"Well…" Damon drawls, "I'm going to go and _introduce_ myself to him at the Historical Society Tea Party today." At Stefan's raised brow he continues, "and find out exactly what kind of deal he and darling Elena have made since _she_ obviously won't be opening up any time soon."

Stefan frowns at that. He's guessing Damon's visit the night before didn't go over so well. He had actually thought Elena would share her plan with his brother – sure they weren't on the best of terms at the moment, but were they ever? He's hesitant to even ask about it noting the tone Damon uses when mentioning Elena. He studies his brother worriedly. When Damon fell for someone he usually fell hard and while they'd spoken about it and Damon had assured him he didn't really _love_ Elena, Stefan wasn't so sure.

"I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this am I?" He asked bluntly and Alaric threw his hands up in the air in frustration. It wasn't really a decision to let him go anyway because Stefan was honestly curious about this little deal too.

"Not you too!" The history teacher moaned, "this is a _bad_ idea! Especially in a public place, do you remember what happened when you did this dance with Katherine at the masquerade ball?" The blonde paced back and forth while Stefan and Damon watched bemusedly.

"'I'll be _fine_ Ric," Damon smirked, "don't look so worried." They both knew from the look the vampire hunter sent back it wasn't the Salvatore's lives he was worried about.

"And the ball didn't go _that_ badly," Stefan commented, "it was just that one chick…what was her name?" He turned to Damon, his nose crunched up in thought and received an incredulous look off Alaric.

"You mean Amy Bradley?"

"That's the one!" He clicked his fingers, pointing to Alaric. "Anyway," he continued, turning back to Damon. "I promised I'd go see Caroline today, I told her I'd explain about the whole Klaus thing."

Damon's eyes widen a little as he realises what Stefan's trying to say without Alaric catching on. "You mean the ritual thing?"

Stefan rolls his eyes. It's not as bad as if he'd said 'the Elena thing?' but it's still going to raise questions with Alaric that he doesn't want to answer yet. "Yeah, she wants to know and I promised I'd share." He decides not to voice his concerns as to whether he trusts her with the whole story or not.

Damon glared. "You haven't even filled me in!"

"But I will!" Stefan groaned, exasperated, "later, I swear!"

"What ritual?" Alaric buts in then and Stefan bites his lip.

"Nothing," Damon waves him off easily with a smirk, "ancient history."

Stefan takes the shot at his…lover? With a smirk because Damon's gotten them out of this one without Alaric's lie detector going off and they really didn't need another disaster at the moment.

"Be careful." He leaves Damon with one last warning and a steady look as he leaves the house and heads to his car. Elijah is not to be underestimated. Not only was he an original but if Klaus was actually worried about his brother disrupting his carefully laid plans then he must be smart too – and manipulative.

And Damon's plans all tended to go to shit in the first place so with someone potentially more diabolical than Katherine on the other end? Well that could be a problem – a _big_ one.

He sighs heavily as he shifts gears, mind drifting back to Klaus. He really had to remember to get a phone number so he could abuse the vampire when he disappeared because it was driving Stefan up the walls. He frowned darkly, pulling into Caroline's driveway.

He was asking Stefan to choose him over his brother, over his town, pretty much over his own life and to take Elena's in the process and he doesn't stick around after sleeping with him. What the hell? He wasn't yoyo, or some kind of personal toy the original could reel in and then leave in the dirt.

He slammed the door to his Porsche getting out and immediately winced afterwards. He was angry but that was no reason to hurt his baby.

Caroline greeted him with a tired smile at the door, an expression he hadn't seen on her face before. "Hey," she said quietly, stepping out of the entryway to let him in.

"Hi," he said softly, reaching up to rub her shoulders, "how are you feeling?" He asked, piercing her eyes with his, leaving her unable to smile and lie her way out of it.

"Not great," she heaved. "I really liked him, you know?"

Stefan nodded, grumbling to himself, "I know the feeling," before realising what he's said and raising his hands in a surrendering gesture. "Not Tyler, I mean."

Caroline giggles. "You're an idiot sometimes Stefan."

He puts on a mock offended look for her benefit and smiles as she laughs again. He's beginning to really like the baby vampire and hopes that she won't completely hate him after what he's about to tell her.

"Klaus needs to kill Elena." He blurts out, suddenly just wanting the entire thing to be over with even if he might lose his new and only friend as a consequence.

"Well yeah, Stefan," Caroline nods, "I get that, what I want to know is why?"

He shifts a little, uneasy at her acceptance and bites his lip. "He's cursed, in order to lift the curse Elena has to die in a ritual, because she's the Petrova doppelganger."

Caroline seems to get that that's all the information he's willing to give and sighs. "And there's no other way?" He can practically see the cogs turning in her brain.

"Not that I'm aware of, though I haven't really been pro-active in looking," he admits a little sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

She frowns at him in disapproval. "I know we don't particularly like her anymore Stefan, but that doesn't mean she deserves to die."

He sighs, taking in her stern stare. "I know Care, but if it's the only way then it will come down to a choice – Elena or Klaus…and I'm scared of what I might choose." They both know the truth of that statement is that as it stands (no matter how pissed he is at him as of this morning) Stefan will choose Klaus over Elena and that means an end to life in Mystic Falls as they know it.

Caroline falters. "I can't ask you to choose her over him." She looks down. "I think…I think if I were in your position, I'd be selfish too." She frowns, "but promise me you'll help us try. That we'll try and find another way until the very last minute?"

Stefan smiles sadly. "You know I will Care," he pulls her into a hug. "It's not that I don't care about her anymore…it's Elena, you know? A part of everyone can't help but love her." He sighed, it was irritating but true. "She just isn't more important anymore, you know?"

At risk of making her hate him regardless of her previous conditions, he can't hold back his next murmured statement. "She's only human…"

He's surprised that Caroline only holds him tighter. That she _gets_ what he's saying, that for as little time as she's been a vampire she's already starting to understand how unending life is going to work – she understands him. Her view of the world was changing from the human perception to vampire and he was relieved and grateful to have someone other than his brother he could now confide in.

"Elena knows about it you know." Caroline said darkly, stepping back. "She doesn't know that _you_ know, or who Klaus is, but she knows an original vampire named Klaus wants her dead in a ritual."

Stefan nodded as they moved to sit at the kitchen bench. "I was afraid of that." He smiles gratefully as Caroline waves a plastic package of blood at him and nods in the affirmative, watching curiously as she pours it into a mug and places it in the microwave – she was so domesticated.

He was a serial snacker…eating again already.

"Elijah must have told her," he confirmed, accepting his blood as the microwave pinged and beginning to explain Klaus' family dynamics to the little blonde vampire.

Caroline frowns as he finishes, having withheld any questions she had until the end. "It looks like whatever we do, not everyone can be happy then," she sighs. "I wonder what he wants," she muses. "He can't just want his brother dead…they're family, you know?"

Stefan merely nods, watching as she mulls over the story, deep in thought. "Have you thought about a spell?" She asked suddenly and Stefan raises an eyebrow in question having checked out of the conversation (or rather Caroline's thoughts voiced out loud) long ago.

"For the ritual," she clarifies. "What if we found a spell," she makes motions with her hands to accompany her idea. "That could kill Elena, but not permanently."

It's Caroline's turn to raise an eyebrow in question now and Stefan frowns. "Well what if when she comes back to life the curse just comes back into effect again?" If he came to decision that he would support Klaus he wouldn't give him an option that could fail later.

"It's worth looking into though right?" She asked happily. "I mean if we do it and it fails then can't Klaus just try the ritual again anyway? All you have to do is convince him to try it our way first."

Stefan contemplates for a moment. "I suppose, assuming we can find such a spell, that would be an okay Plan A, but I wouldn't be letting Elena in on it either way." He glares at the bench top. "She's working with Elijah now and I don't trust them not to double cross us and kill Klaus somehow anyway."

If it were anyone but Caroline across from him, not including his brother he would never have even said that out loud. Even now such an intense revelation of his feelings was making him uncomfortable. He really didn't like feeling so exposed about this, which was strange because it was never an issue when he was with Elena.

Was he a different person now or did he just not love her the same? Maybe it was both.

"We need a Plan B." He grumbled, running his hand through his hair, watching as Caroline typed rapidly away on her phone.

"Well that's obvious," Caroline rolled her eyes. "We shove some blood down her throat so after she dies, she wakes up again."

Stefan nodded in acquiescence, she had a point. Elena would hate them, that was for sure, but did he really care? Nope. As long as the people _he_ cared about didn't hate him for it, it was fine and as much as Damon protested, Stefan still wasn't sure his brother would be able to handle it if Elena died for real. Not to mention she was one of Caroline's best friends.

"I guess so," he sighed. He was grateful to finally talk it though with someone, having been mulling over it all week but not daring to raise the subject with Klaus at all, lest the original react terribly.

"So back to Plan A…" He commented offhandedly, "how are you suggesting we find this spell anyway?" He asked, before tensing as he felt a presence behind him.

"Hello, Stefan."

He whirled around, glaring at the witch behind him before turning back to Caroline. "You invited her here?" He growled, "how much does she know?" He couldn't help but yell as he felt the betrayal rising in his chest. He felt a little guilty when he saw Caroline's face cloud with upset but he couldn't bring himself to calm down.

"Stefan, it's ok!" Caroline murmured and turned to her brunette friend. "Can you give us a minute?" She said quietly, before pulling Stefan from the room.

Seriously? The same damn witch that put a spell on him that caused him to nearly kill himself? What the hell Caroline? He was seething, she was lucky he didn't storm back out there and tear out the damn witches throat. She probably knew too much now anyway.

"She doesn't know anything ok?" Caroline hissed. "All she knows is that Elena is in danger and we're trying to think of a way to save her should 'Klaus' come to town and all is inevitable." The blonde sighed. "She thinks you still love Elena and want to have a backup plan, _that's all_."

She meant well and to be honest it was a good back up story but she was still putting him and Klaus at risk and he was angry that she could do it so thoughtlessly. "Caroline! She's not stupid, she'll figure it out!" He hissed.

"Klaus isn't going to stay hidden forever!" She countered, "he'll have to make an appearance eventually and then _everyone_ will know! At least now we can hopefully find out if there _is_ a spell and if our plan _is_ possible before that happens."

He glared at her pouting face before caving. "Fine!" He snarled, "but if this goes wrong, it's your fault," he muttered, "and don't text her to come over again without some warning, yeah?" He stalked back into the kitchen, finding Bonnie leaning against the counter, looking at the ground.

Her head shot up when he walked back in. "Stefan, I'm so sor-"

"Save it!" He held up a hand. "Let's just move on," he added quickly even though he knew it would be a long time before she earned his forgiveness – if ever.

He went back to sipping on his blood that had now gone cold and glaring across the counter top at the two girls as Caroline and Bonnie talked. The witch then headed off the Historical Society Tea Party, sans any warning from Stefan about what may end up going on over there. Hey, they weren't friends. Apparently they were going to attempt to get some information about Elijah's tactics out of the warlock's son. He just went with the flow on that one, let them do the work and share the information later.

He stood up from his stool silently, rinsing out his mug and leaving it on the sink.

"Stefan…" Caroline came up behind him. "Please don't be angry with me…" She muttered, wrapping her arms around herself.

He sighed. "I can't just _not_ be mad Caroline, it's not a switch." The irony of that statement…

"You understand though right?" She looked up at him hopefully and he looked away. It was logical sure, but did she not have any risk assessment skills whatsoever – maybe he was wrong about her moral compass being set on self-preservation…yeah, definitely wrong.

"Look Care, can we just leave it for today?" He ran a hand over his eyes. Maybe he'd feel differently about it tomorrow but right now he was in a shit mood. Honestly he feels like everyone has just been stabbing him in the back all day long.

He hated feeling so moody.

He pushed Caroline's hand off his shoulder and made his way out of the house, starting up his car and not looking back. By the time he pulled into the driveway of the boarding house he had calmed down at least a little. He took a deep breath in and let it out before getting out of the car.

He strolled through the hallway, stopping short at the entrance to the living room where two dead bodies lay sprawled across the floor, chest cavities bloody. He looked up to find Klaus holding his brother Elijah up by the throat against the wall and Damon chained down to a chair in the centre of the room, bleeding freely.

"What the _fuck_ did you do?" Stefan snarled, batting an unsuspecting Klaus away to slam a fist into the surprised brunette original's face. He revelled in the crunch that followed, glaring down at the original as he slammed into the ground.

Klaus interceded then, catching Elijah as he flew towards Stefan and throwing him back into the wall. "Stefan!" The almost-hybrid chides, holding a hand up in his direction.

"It wasn't him," Damon rasps from behind him but Stefan refuses to take his eyes off Elijah. "Seriously," Damon continues, "if someone could help me out back here…that would be great."

Stefan turns back reluctantly then, but not without sending a dark glare at the older vampires. His eyes widen when he fully takes in the contraption Damon's stuck in. What the hell is that collar? Are they wooden spikes? What kind of sick b-

"Werewolves." Damon cuts him off, rolling his eyes for dramatic effect. He then looks pointedly at the bodies on the floor. Oh.

"Right," Stefan finds himself replying sceptically before moving forward to slowly pull apart the torture contraption. Damon is only just free when there's an _explosion_ from behind them and they turn simultaneously to find Klaus and Elijah blurring backwards and forward, attacking each other at a speed vampire eyes could barely see, flying about and destroying the boarding house living room.

They are nearly evenly matched though Klaus clearly has more of an edge today because one second they're still fighting and the next Elijah has fled and Klaus is left standing alone, panting a few metres away from them.

"Well I guess the cats out of the bag now," Stefan comments dryly, raising an eyebrow.

Klaus merely gives him an unimpressed look, flopping down in the nearest armchair and resting his head on his palm in such a way that Stefan can't decide if it's pouty or contemplative.

Damon clears his throat then, "uh, yeah. To everyone except me."

Klaus laughs sarcastically at that and Stefan sighs.

"Yeah, um…later, Damon." His brother gives him an incredulous look and he sighs. "Okay, Klaus cursed. Ritual. Moonstone, Elena dies." He mumbles it in one long sentence hoping Damon will employ that selective hearing he seems to like so much and just glaze over that last point.

Klaus looks up at him annoyed. "You're great at keeping your mouth shut ripper."

Stefan really has no reply for that, because it's true he's already told two other people. In his defence though, they kind of had to know.

"Elijah's here now making deals with people and no doubt telling the whole family history indiscriminately Klaus." He sighs. It might be annoying to the original but it's the truth and nothing can be done about it. "I'm pretty sure everyone knows now anyway and if they don't they will soon."

"You're going to kill Elena." Damon deadpans, staring at him blankly.

"There's a backup plan." Stefan mutters. "If worse comes to worse we just shove blood down her throat right?" He looks to Klaus for confirmation but the original just looks unimpressed.

"That won't work Stefan, look at Katerina." The blonde is glaring darkly now and Stefan smirks, knowing he's feeling a little betrayed that Stefan's been forming a Plan B this whole time. Let him get a taste of his own medicine then, Stefan thought bitterly.

"Yeah," Stefan shrugs, "but _you_ didn't kill Kat, she killed herself." It's logical, that much is true, but it's a chance too and he should have known it was one Klaus wouldn't take, especially considering the risks involved – Elena doesn't have an illegitimate child running around…not that Klaus would wait another five hundred years anyway.

"I'm not taking that chance Stefan." The blonde hisses, rising from his chair and coming to stand directly in front of him. Stefan only notices then that Damon has disappeared as he's been doing a lot lately and the two are left alone.

Stefan merely raises an eyebrow at Klaus who grits his teeth and spits out, "make a choice Stefan! Me or her."

Stefan merely stared back, disappointed. "You're not really making it an appealing choice," he mutters, stepping around the blonde and moving to the staircase, dismissing him abruptly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" The original follows him, stair after stair. "Either you're still in love with her or not!" He growls out and Stefan turns around abruptly. Having reached the landing he's staring down at Klaus on the step below.

"Where were you this morning?" He questions suddenly, pushing at the original's shoulders, making him catch himself on the banister.

Klaus glares up at him then, furious. Stefan goes flying back, skidding down the hallway on his back before managing to clamber to his feet.

"You expect me to give you everything, but offer nothing in return!" Stefan yells as the older vampire stalks toward him.

"Are you sure that's what this is about Stefan?" Klaus glares, "because it seems like this started with the topic of Elena. Are you sure you don't still love her?" It's spiteful but way off the mark and Stefan manages to scoff.

"You have no idea what you're talking about."

They stare at each other in silence.

"You have to give a little to get a little Klaus." He says blankly, too drained of energy to fight anymore.

"You want to know where I was this morning, ripper?" The blonde asks quietly, his azure eyes stormy.

Stefan merely glares, steadfast.

"I was doing you a favour, since you're _so alone_!" The original spits out. "Next time I won't bother." Klaus disappears in a blur of movement and Stefan hears the front door slam almost simultaneously.

He closes his eyes, feeling his chest contract and shudder. God damn it.

He rubs a hand over his eyes roughly and when he looks up his jaw drops in realisation as a figure appears from the doorway closest to the staircase, staring at him disappointedly.

_I was doing you a favour since you're __**so alone**_**.**

"Rebekah…" He breathes, knowing he's just made a colossal mistake.

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><p><strong>AN: **Ugh Stefan, what are you doing? Umm yeah and Damon's love interest is going to be made known in the next chapter. $20 says no one guesses it! No, for real, it's a het pairing.


	12. Twelve

LOL my anons, Katerina and Di, your super reviews make me laugh!

**Warning:** A tad of language is inevitable.

**Disclaimer:** Too poor for TVD.

**PS:** We now have over 150 reviews. Klefan lives on through us my darlings.

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><p><em>Falling into Place<br>_

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><p>He stares at the blonde in front of him, still in a 1920's era gown for only a second before he snaps out of it and starts down the stairs. She's in front of him before he can even make it halfway down, a hand resting on his chest stopping him in his tracks.<p>

"Don't." She says simply, "let him go, he needs to calm down."

He looks into her eyes, "I can't Rebekah…" What if he's leaving?

"Stefan," she admonishes, "trust me." The blonde original wraps an arm around him and pulls him toward the couch. "He's my brother, I know what's best."

He breathes out deeply, blood pressure still racing from the earlier argument and sighs, falling back onto the couch. "Okay…okay." He smiles up at her then. "Rebekah," he greets her again – properly this time. She smiles graciously, taking a seat beside him.

"Where have you been all this time?" He asks, studying her. She looked exactly like he remembered the last night he saw her, dress and all. "And why the…" He motioned with his hands and she rolled her eyes.

"Figures he wouldn't tell you."

Stefan frowned, "tell me what?"

"You know about us right? How we can be…incapacitated?" She confirmed and he nodded slowly.

"Yes…?" His eyes widened at her pointed look. "No?"

"Yes," she nodded, "my idiot brother has had me daggered in a coffin for the better part of the last century."

Stefan merely gaped. "And you're not…angry with him?" He ventured in disbelief. Why wasn't she raging? The Rebekah he had known would have attempted to snap her brother's neck for this, even if the efforts would be futile.

"We…talked this morning." She said quietly. "I'm still angry," the blonde laughed, "don't you worry. But…it's not worth it, you know?"

Stefan merely nodded silently. He did know.

He regretted every minute of the past century he'd spent hating Damon when he could have made things right and had his brother the entire time.

Rebekah looked down at the floor for a minute before meeting his eyes. "I think that you should go."

He frowned in confusion, "I thought you said to let him calm down?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes then. "Yes, let him calm down, not wait all night." She sighed, "my brother is insecure. He hasn't had a lot of people to care about him, you know?" She shook her head. "If you don't chase after him…he'll think you don't care. But you do care, don't you?" She stared up at him through her lashes and he winced, feeling immensely awkward.

"Bekah…" He frowned, his whole face softening. "I'm sor-."

"No!" She cut him off, holding up a hand, "it's fine Stefan, really." She gave him a shaky smile. "I understand."

He reached over slowly, pulling her into a hug. How hard it must be for her to have woken up, one hundred years in the future. While everyone else had already moved on with their lives, she was stuck in the past, like it was yesterday.

And he'd treated her terribly, make no mistake. He'd screwed around with her and lead her on when he really wasn't all that interested. What he'd done was wrong and he'd luckily escaped the consequences…until now.

There was something about the original family that made his feelings intensified. If it were anyone else he'd just shake it off. Of course he'd know he'd done the wrong thing but he wouldn't let it bother him…with Rebekah, just like with Klaus he felt the need to apologise. To make amends.

It was strange.

"Go!" She nudged him, smiling and he smiled back.

"Upstairs in my bedroom, there should be some of my old girlfriend's clothes if you want to go out," he said hesitantly. Elena had left a few jeans and shirts at the boarding house and at least they could be put to good use. "Here," he threw her his wallet. "Buy yourself some clothes." He smiled.

"Stefan," she rolled her eyes, "I'll just compel them to give me what I want, I don't need your money."

He smirked at that. "Yeah, half the shopkeepers are on vervain." At her sceptical look he finished sarcastically, "welcome to Mystic Falls."

"How am I supposed to know what's in fashion?" She pouted and it was Stefan's turn to roll his eyes. Girls – they were all the same.

Pulling out his mobile phone he dialled someone he knew would have free time to go shopping.

"Stefan!" She answered cheerfully, "thank god, I'm _so_ sorry, I really didn't like you being angry at me and-"

"Caroline!" He cut in, shaking his head. "You aren't on my good side yet," he said slowly, "but you will be if you do me a favour?"

"Anything Stefan, name it!" She chirped and he grinned.

"Oh I think you'll like this one." He met Rebekah's raised eyebrow with a smirk. "Klaus' sister is in town and needs a shopping buddy, can you be here in fifteen?"

"Klaus has a sister?" Was the baby vampire's incredulous response and he groaned.

"Yes or no, Care?"

"Yeah, I'm leaving now." He could hear her car keys clanking together through the speaker.

"Alright, thanks Care and bring some clothes with you too!" He added as an afterthought. "Rebekah will explain when you get here."

And with that he hung up. At the original's questioning look he shrugged, "she's a baby vamp – head cheerleader at Mystic Falls High." That explained everything in Stefan's opinion so with that he turned to leave, not bothering with a 'don't spend too much' because he figured he owed her this twisted apology anyway.

"Stefan!" She called after him, stopping him before he reached the door. "There's a little house south-east of here on the edge of town…"

He nodded his head in thanks before taking off out of the door and cutting through the woods south of the house. The best part about being a vampire was the speed and agility – not having to drive around a forest for example.

It wasn't difficult to find the place, or rather to find Klaus. Every tree within a twenty foot radius had been felled violently, cracked trunks and turned over branches littering the forest's edge. Stefan bit his lip before stepping toward the house hesitantly, wincing as the debris crunched under his shoes.

The door creaked as he opened it slowly and he could see Klaus from his current vantage point, sprawled across the lounge, a glass of some kind of liquor dangling from his fingertips.

"Go away Rebekah," the vampire mumbled, not bothering to turn around.

"I'm not Rebekah," he answered quietly, stopping a few feet behind the original.

Klaus snorted, taking another long swig of what Stefan could now identify as whiskey, judging by the bottle on the ground. "You're not welcome here either."

Stefan sighed, creeping forward to place his mouth near the blonde's ear. "I'm sorry."

He was shrugged off violently and Klaus finally turned around, sending him a deep glare. "I don't care. Get out."

Stefan groaned, he was not equipped to deal with this. "Can't you just accept my apology?"

The original merely remained silent, staring listlessly at the opposite wall.

Stefan rolled his eyes. "Seriously?" The silent treatment – what were they, five? He waited another minute and when Klaus remained unmoving he snatched the original's drink from his hand, throwing it back and then used his free hand to push an unsuspecting Klaus off the couch.

He watched as Klaus slowly got to his feet and when Stefan's eyes finally found ocean blue, the older vampire was radiating with killer intent. In seconds he was screaming out, warm blood gushing down the front of his shirt as Klaus tore into his throat, ripping his skin apart.

"Klaus!" He yelled, gripping the front of the almost-hybrid's shirt in an attempt to push him off. The original was far too strong for him and for the first time in a long time Stefan actually felt fear.

"Back off _ripper_." The blonde snarled, finally stepping back, his eyes black with fury. Stefan gasped lightly, gripping at his shredded throat with one hand. The pain, while not as bad as the time he was stuck in a well full of vervain was still excruciating and he was losing a lot of blood.

"Klaus," he groaned, frowning up at the original in agony. The blonde simply turned his back and walked away, a clear dismissal to the younger vampire.

Stefan slid down the wall behind him, lowering himself to the ground and settling into the corner, bleeding sluggishly.

"For god's sake Stefan, just go!" Klaus hissed, throwing him a dark look over his shoulder. "You'll only kill yourself by staying." He was right, this wound wouldn't heal on it's own, he was going to continue bleeding until he passed out. Luckily he couldn't die from it, not really but he probably wouldn't wake from his unconscious state for a while until someone forced blood down his throat.

He looked across at Klaus, remembering Rebekah's words. _He'll think you don't care_. He let his head fall back against the wall, closing his eyes. "I'll be here when you're ready to accept my apology," he rasped quietly, tasting blood in his mouth.

He didn't know how long he'd sat there, knowing that he just had to _stay_ – that actions spoke louder than words and this was how he was going to make his point. He needed Klaus to know he was sorry and from what he could tell the original needed the assurance that Stefan was completely serious, even if he had to knock himself unconscious to prove it.

He'd sat, aware of Klaus' confused gaze on him for a certain period of time before he'd just drifted off into a blackness. He only came to, to the exquisite taste of the original's blood permeating his mouth and the blonde muttering curse words under his breath.

He blinked up at the blonde blearily for a moment, before smirking. "I knew you'd make the right decision."

Klaus only rolled his eyes before dropping him harshly back to the ground, jolting his injured neck. "Ouch," Stefan groaned, glaring up at the older vampire who stared back impassively.

He got to his feet, muscles creaking and waited for Klaus to speak. He was met with the same expressionless stare and silence. Stefan bit his lip.

"I'm not going to chase after you anymore Stefan," the blonde says, brows furrowing into a frown. "Either you want this or you don't."

Klaus doesn't want to be pulled around anymore, waiting for Stefan to make a decision and Stefan can understand that. He also understands that this is a loaded question. If this is what he wants he has to take Klaus as he is, no regrets. He was to understand that he can't change him, even if that means leaving some of his own morals behind. Is he even ready for that?

He doesn't think he is, not at all…but the only other option is to lose Klaus and that's hardly an option at all.

He steps forward, pulling the blonde into a hug of all things, feeling immensely silly and mutters, "I promise." He doesn't need to specify what he's promising; they both know that it's whatever he can give – a promise to try.

* * *

><p>When Stefan and Klaus enter the boarding house that night it's to find Damon, Caroline and Rebekah deep in discussion and he's not reassured by the fact that the first thing Caroline says upon noticing their entrance is, "hey Stefan, you thought you were mad at <em>me<em>, wait until Damon tells you his stupid plan!"

She receives a glare from his brother at that and Stefan smirks at the arguing pair, wondering briefly whether this mysterious plan has something to do with where Damon's been sneaking off to lately. He also notices Rebekah, decked to the nines in 21st century attire, is palming a dangerous looking dagger in her lap.

"Um...ok." He raises an eyebrow. "What's with the dagger?" He decides to ask first and Klaus frowns.

"Yes, Rebekah, what's with the dagger?"

The blonde huffed. "They want to incapacitate Elijah, I offered them the dagger, or is it only for use in _my_ chest cavity?" She spat at him spitefully and Stefan winced. Oh yeah, definitely not over it yet.

Klaus only rolled his eyes at his sister's antics. "That's all well and good but how do you expect this plan to work?" He directed the question at Damon.

"And why would I be upset about that?" Stefan cuts in, frowning at Caroline.

The blonde only laughs out loud. "Not what he's doing," she giggles, "why he's doing it."

Damon sends her a dark glare then and Stefan can see this is something that's clearly upsetting his brother, not just a joke anymore.

"Can you guys explain whatever this is to Klaus?" He asks, motioning for Damon to come with him without waiting for a response. They wander outside and Damon sighs loudly.

"It's not as bad as she's making it out to be." Stefan waits patiently for his brother to continue, knowing that pushing him will not have the desired effect. Damon ran a hand through his hair. "If we kill Elijah, Katherine won't be compelled anymore, she can get out of the tomb."

Stefan stared.

"What?"

"Don't!" Damon held up a hand. "Just don't.

"Don't what?" Stefan raised his arms up in surrender, "I'm not doing anything," just acknowledging the fact that you lied to me last time we went to see Katherine telling me you were over her and clearly, you're not; Stefan thinks to himself.

"Ugh!" Damon groans. "It's not…I mean, we're going to kill Elijah anyway right?"

Stefan nods, "Yeah, I suppose so, but Damon…" He thinks about how to put this nicely, in a way that Damon won't explode like a friggin' meteor shower. "I just don't want you to get hurt again." He settles on finally.

If this is where Damon has really been going, down to the tomb to visit Katherine then she's probably been manipulating him into getting her out of her cage the entire time, she was like the devil stuck in the deepest circle of hell.

"I know," Damon protested, "I know what you're thinking! I'm not that naïve Stefan. I don't think that she...loves me or anything."

Stefan feels his heart break a little at that. Of course he still loves her. He's loved her for over a hundred years, it wasn't something he could just stop now that he knew it was unrequited.

"I can't just…turn it off." Damon confirms his thoughts.

"You're not going to be disappointed if she runs the second she's free?" Stefan questions quietly, knowing that if their positions were reversed, he'd be getting his hopes up only to be devastated once more.

"I won't be surprised." Damon counters and Stefan notices the change of words. "But hey," the older Salvatore shrugs, "if she ups and leaves, we'll never see her again and that's the end of that."

Stefan took that to mean 'conversation over' and breathed out a large sigh. "Okay," he muttered, following his brother back into the house and out of the chilly winter air, stuffing his hands in his jean pockets.

Caroline raised a brow at him as they entered and Stefan shook his head sternly. He was luckily impervious to the pout she tried to set upon him then.

"So it's a go?" Damon confirmed, looking from Rebekah to Klaus then back again, expecting they'd have debated the situation already while the brothers were talking outside.

"Not quite," Klaus responds, turning to speak to them both. "The dagger has to be used by a human, any vampire that uses it will also die."

Damon sends Rebekah a glare then at the near fatal mistake. "Why didn't you mention that before?"

She only scoffs, "I forgot ok? I've been asleep for a hundred years!" She turns her annoyance back towards Klaus then and Stefan decides to steer the ship out of stormy waters.

"Alright, so we need a human to do it?" At Klaus' nod he turned to look at Damon, "do you think you can convince Ric?"

Damon hesitated. "I don't know. It wasn't exactly a stellar conversation he was witness to this morning," he sends Stefan a look and the younger vampire winces. Yeah, that was definitely his fault.

Caroline piped up then from her place on the couch. "Bonnie owes you Stefan. She'll do it."

He looks at her warily and glances to Klaus for his opinion. The original shrugs, "can't hurt to try."

"Are you sure we can trust her?" He asks Caroline, needed a definite response before they waste this chance.

The blonde nodded furiously. "Trust me Stefan, she feels really bad for what she did. She'll help." He was still a little in doubt over the witch's allegiances but he supposed when he thought about it they were killing a dangerous vampire and that's something her morality would help her commit to – even if it were for an even more dangerous creature of the night.

"Okay," Damon sighs, rubbing a hand across his face. "I'll organise tomorrow night's 'dinner party' so make sure you're all ready." He motioned for Caroline with his hand, "come on barbie, let's go see judgey."

Stefan shook his head at their nicknames, watching as Caroline said goodbye to Rebekah before following his brother out of the house. He stayed silent in thought for a moment before being shocked back to his senses by a pillow to the face.

Rebekah had thrown a pillow in his face.

Klaus burst out laughing and Stefan took in his row of white teeth and laughter that actually reached his eyes and couldn't help but smile himself.

"Fuck you."

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><p><strong>AN:** Kind of sort of drawing towards the end. -ish.

If I started a Klefan AU fic when I finish this, would you guys stick around? :)

OH! And BTW, yeah, I'm shipping Datherine. Bet you didn't see that one coming.


	13. Thirteen

**Warning:** Language, definitely language. And...this is the last chapter? *wince* Please don't kill me!

**Disclaimer:** Too poor to buy the CW.

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><p><em>Falling:<em>

_-verb (used without object)_

_-to succumb to temptation or sin  
><em>

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><p>The dinner party did not go well to say the least. Oh they got Elijah, Elijah went down pretty quickly in the scheme of things but one thing they hadn't planned on was Elena showing up, <em>Jenna<em> showing up, in fact there were so many uninvited guests that if they were regular high school students and not 150 year old vampires they might have just found it amusing they were so popular.

Unfortunately it's not the kind of thing that equates to success when trying to kill one's brother.

Elena had of course tried to stop Bonnie as soon as she'd seen Elijah go down but it was already too late. The witch was good, he'd give her that. Stefan saw her put a dagger through Elijah with the help of a handy aneurism in point two five seconds, the original had barely walked in the door when he'd seen Rebekah and faltered and that was all the opening they needed. Luckily there were enough sensible vampires present in the room at the time to stop Elena from foolishly yanking out the dagger the first chance she got.

He could kind of understand where she was coming from, the entire supernaturally aware population of Mystic Falls knew about the ritual now thanks to Elijah (and Stefan's inability to keep his mouth shut as Klaus liked to often remind him) and most sympathised with Elena. Which they should, hell Stefan probably…no. He had known Klaus longer even if he'd forgotten and that was all he needed to justify it to himself.

"You know what your problem is Stefan?" Klaus had said to him the previous night as he watched the younger vampire stare at the ceiling, a million thoughts buzzing through his mind, feeling to pressure of the full moon draw ever closer, along with the pressure to make a decision on exactly how he was going to play this game. Especially since he'd _promised_ Klaus – promised him what, they hadn't specified, but Stefan's gut could tell when he was floating into murky waters.

"You're conflicted, that you're not conflicted." Stefan had frowned at that. "It's just you Stefan, you care even when you don't. You've just always been that way."

Klaus knew him so much better than he knew himself. What he was thinking, how he felt. He could define Stefan's inner turmoil eons before he himself had even thought about it.

His decision had already been made.

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><p>The week leading up to the full moon passed quietly and though the tension in the air rose to almost suffocating levels, no one spoke a word about it. There were no group meetings, no talks of 'plans' and Stefan felt himself relaxing a little against his better judgement.<p>

Even Katherine who had spent the last week since her escape from the tomb, surprisingly holed up in the boarding house with Damon hadn't spoken a word of the matter. It was little amusing to Stefan how terrified of Klaus she seemed and while she tried not to show it, she wouldn't fail to make a hasty exit if Klaus ever entered the same room.

Damon was still guarded but seemed to be happy with himself most of the time which lead Stefan to wonder exactly what sort of relationship he and Katherine were having when they disappeared at all hours. He had the right to be worried about his brother, especially with a vampire who had already screwed him over more than once.

But they had a love spanning over a hundred years, that sort of thing sticks.

The morning of the full moon, Stefan wakes to an empty bed and an envelope placed inconspicuously on the pillow next to his. Frowning, he shuffles up into a sitting position and slides the flap up, letting the contents tumble out.

It was a plane ticket. To Charles De Gaulle. It's dated for departure tomorrow night with a layover in New York.

He looks up when the timber floorboards creak and finds Klaus leaning in the doorframe, studying him.

"If everything goes easily, we'll be out of here by tomorrow, love."

Stefan doesn't need to look back up from the ticket again to see the offer for what it is – a bargain, a deal. Don't interfere, make the right choice and we can do whatever you want, _go_ wherever you want.

He's offering him the world, trying to _buy_ his choice right out from under him.

And damn if Stefan isn't easy.

"Klaus…"

The corner of Klaus' lip quirks up in victory and he slips from the room, leaving Stefan to contemplate the consequences of the decision he never really had to make.

The ripper doesn't want to go to the sacrifice, he doesn't want to even leave his room and he remains in there, long after night has fallen and the others have all filtered out of the house, whether they have their own agendas or not he doesn't know.

Maybe they _had_ all been planning something and kept it from him. He hadn't seen Caroline or Bonnie since the dinner party, he wondered whether Bonnie had found a workable spell, tried and true. Maybe they all just couldn't miss a good show and their curiosity got the best of them.

It didn't matter. He didn't want to leave his bed and he wasn't going to. Until the thought occurred to him that Klaus wasn't indestructible. That even if he had the backup of his sister and the witches, who knows what could happen? Were Damon and Katherine there? He would like to think his brother wouldn't let Klaus die if he could help it but what if, what if, what if?

He growled, throwing on new clothes and stalking out of his room. "Shit."

It doesn't take much to find them, the forest floor is ablaze and the rising smoke and glowing halo guides him like a beacon. He finds himself on the edge of a cliff face overlooking a clearing below. There is an altar, Klaus' witch Greta at the forefront, two fiery circles, Jules' dead body in one and Elena and…was that Jenna in the other? Klaus was by Greta, his head having shot up to find Stefan the second he'd appeared.

The hybrid sends him a look that Stefan can't quite discern from his position and then goes back to what he was doing. No one else is present and Stefan has a dawning comprehension that perhaps this would be too much for Damon to handle. That if he truly wasn't going to interfere for Stefan's sake then seeing Elena die would be all too much for him. Even if it was a manifestation of his love for Katherine, Damon really had cared about Elena to some degree.

So it was just them.

Elena hadn't noticed him at all, she wouldn't being a human. Jenna had looked up though in confusion and that's when it hit him that Jenna was a newborn.

"Why Jenna! Why did you have to do this to her? Jeremy's going to have no one!"

"I thought it was kind of poetic," the hybrid smirked down at the crying girl, circling the two casually. "It had to be someone you cared about of course."

Stefan knew that Klaus had a mean streak but this was beyond anything he'd seen the hybrid do before. He held so much rage for the doppelganger, wanting to see her suffer before she died and Stefan couldn't help but feel a little terrified that it was on his behalf. He bit his lip at the intensity.

"I was going to use your little blonde friend you know," the blonde continues cruelly, "but I've grown to like her too much."

Stefan remained a silent observer, doing nothing to give his position away until he saw the newborn's muscles tighten in preparation to move and he was in motion before you could blink. He anticipated Jenna's bare fanged launch at Klaus and before he even knew what had happened he was watching her fall backwards, pine protruding from her chest.

Elena was screaming and he staggered back a step, brain still processing what had happened as Jenna's body shrivelled. He stumbled literally into Klaus' arms and the hybrid commented fondly, "I had it under control, ripper."

Stefan let the warm hands on his waist anchor him and closed his eyes. "Shit," he croaked, wincing as Elena's head shot up to glare at him through rivers of tears.

"How could you Stefan?" She screeched, not moving from her place in the dirt, cradling Jenna's lifeless body.

"I…" He bit his lip. "She was going to kill Klaus." And that _was_ just it. Jenna was trying to kill Klaus and Stefan stopped her – he was honest in his belief that there wasn't even a decision to be made, he just hadn't realised it until today.

Klaus' grip slipped away from Stefan as he stepped forward. "Come now love, it's not like you'll never see her again." Maybe it had nothing to do with Stefan, perhaps he was being too conceited. Maybe Klaus was just the vicious vampire he'd heard him portrayed as in stories, fierce and cruel and all around heartless. Did that intimidate him? Yeah, but did it scare him off? Not really.

He turned around when Klaus made to pull Elena towards him and took a few steps towards the edge of the clearing. "You're not even going to watch me die Stefan?" Elena spat spitefully and he stopped in his tracks, but still refused to look over his shoulder. Just because her death was necessary didn't mean he wanted to watch the life drain out of her eyes.

He knew if he turned back she'd be standing there trying to be brave and determined to save all her friends, but her jaw would be quivering with the force of holding back tears and he would feel bad – he would, because like Klaus and Damon had said to him a million times, that was just him. But he wasn't going to lose Klaus, so why put himself through anything? Just turn around, face the trees and wait for it to be over. Not very ripper-esque of him, was it?

He could hear them talking but he didn't want to listen, unfortunately for him, every fibre of his body was tuned into Klaus' British accent and he noticed immediately when he stopped talking, heard the squelch as his fangs sunk into Elena's neck and began to drain her.

It was only when the hybrid cut off with a coughing choke that Stefan whirled around again to find Elena on her knees, bleeding from her throat and Klaus staggering back, grasping his head with a snarl.

His head whipped around to locate Bonnie across the clearing, one arm raised, her face scrunched up in concentration. Before he could even process the situation the witch was flying through the air and landing halfway across the clearing on her back.

"Sorry I'm late," was Damon's sarcastic comment and Stefan sighed in relief, noticing Klaus hesitated for only a second before snapping back into action and dragging Elena to him again. He'd been waiting hundreds of years for another chance at breaking the damn curse and he wasn't going to let it slip through his hands again.

"Where's Kat?" Stefan asked suddenly, assuming the brunette would be right behind his brother – she didn't have anywhere else to be right? Unless she'd ran off on him again, which honestly wouldn't surprise Stefan in the least, but he'd been hoping for Damon's sake that whatever they seemed to have this time was genuine.

A dark look crossed Damon's face and Stefan felt dread sink into his chest. So that was what had happened.

"She's at the boarding house."

Okay, that Stefan wasn't expecting. "What?" He frowned, "Why?"

"Well," Damon started furiously, "as you can see," he pointed at Bonnie's prone form a few yards away, "witchy couldn't find a spell to save Elena so there was a big uproar and at the last minute everyone decides, oh shit, we have to do something." Damon waves his hands as he talks and Stefan's eyes are wide with rapt attention. Where exactly is this going?

"So we're traipsing through the woods trying to find Bonnie because we know she's about to do something monumentally stupid and Barbie doesn't want _two_ of her friends to die tonight." He rolls his eyes as he mentions Caroline. "_Anyway_, we both sort of forgot that it was a full moon and since Blondie wasn't with Lockwood…"

Stefan gaped. "He's running around out here somewhere? Holy shit Damon!" Everyone knew a werewolf bite could kill a vampire and unfortunately there were a lot of important people in this town of the undead variety. "Nice to know _now_!" He scowls, crossing his arms over his chest.

Damon sent him a baleful glare then that stopped him in his tracks. "He bit Katherine, Stefan." His brother winced even as he said it, as if in physical pain. "He…she…" Stefan hung on every word as his brother tried to articulate what had happened.

"She took the bite for me."

"What?" He frowned sceptically.

"Lockwood was going to bite me and she shoved me out of the way," Damon explained through grit teeth. The 'and now she's dying' remained unsaid. Stefan didn't know whether to believe him or not – Katherine sacrificing herself for someone else? That just didn't happen.

He had no choice though when she stumbled out of the woods and into the clearing, not looking too worse for wear except for the rapidly blackening skin that made up her wrist and the dark veins under her eyes betraying her hunger.

"What are you _doing_?" Damon hissed, pulling her to him. "You shouldn't be here."

"It's effecting her quicker than it did Rose," Stefan observes interestedly, momentarily forgetting that it meant that Katerina, _Katherine_, their maker and the girl his brother had loved for over a hundred years, was dying. She would die.

"Don't look too upset Stef," she hissed sarcastically, pulling the sweater she was wearing further up her arm so it wasn't touching the wound.

"Kat…" He sighed.

They still weren't the best of friends but his brother loved her.

He turned his head to find Klaus walking towards them, his eyes a strange blend of a golden yellow and his usual azure, his face sunken and slightly greying.

"It's the initial effects of the merge," he commented offhandedly as he noticed Stefan's look. "It should go away in a minute."

Stefan sighed in relief. He almost thought he'd regret his decision there if Klaus was going to look like that forever. Seemingly reading his thoughts the now _true_ hybrid smirked. "What, you don't think I'm attractive anymore? I'm appalled Stefan."

The ripper rolled his eyes at the sarcasm, pulling the hybrid forward into his arms and holding on tightly. It was finally over and he hadn't lost the best friend he'd ever had. The best _anything_ he'd ever had, since he wasn't even sure what category Klaus fell into anymore. Friend, lover, everything?

"How touching," Damon snipped and Stefan frowned. Damon was losing someone he cared about because of the decisions that Stefan had made, he was losing his love for Stefan's happiness, even if it was unintentional.

"Damon…" he started, but Klaus pushed him to the side.

"Don't tell me this is all over a silly little werewolf bite." He rolled his eyes against Damon's glare. He turned to Katherine then, tearing his wrist open with his fangs and holding it out to her. "Don't say I never did anything for you." He sent a steady look at Damon after that as well, making it clear that they _both_ owed him.

Katherine looked confused, but took to the seeping wound anyway, unable to resist the allure of the hybrid's blood.

"Your blood is the cure?" Damon asked incredulously. "You couldn't have mentioned this before?"

Klaus only rolled his eyes. "I've never needed to save anyone before now, have I?" He glared back at the eldest Salvatore, daring him to suggest that he should have saved Rose after what she had brought on Stefan.

Katherine kept dragging the blood from Klaus' wrist and Stefan watched on as the blonde's eyes screwed shut involuntarily, his body jerking as he stifled a moan. Snarling, Stefan pulled Klaus back, shoving Katherine away from him forcefully and putting himself between them.

Klaus chuckled at his jealous behaviour and Katherine looked directly at him and smirked. Stefan didn't find it very funny. He glared at his brother's conquest before turning on his heel and stalking away.

"C'mon ripper," Klaus called after him.

He had stifled a moan. A moan! Seriously, the bitch was dragging the blood from his veins and he thought it was a turn on?

"I love it when you're jealous." Klaus's breath tickled his ear and Stefan shrugged him off.

"Fuck you."

"I can't help it if…" Klaus stopped mid-sentence, mouth open as Stefan turned to face him, expression murderous. He stalked the last two steps to where the hybrid stood, moving so they were nose to nose.

"You ever let her fucking touch you like that again and I'll rip your fucking-!" He was cut off mid-threat as Klaus slammed him against the tree behind him, crashing their bodies together and sealing their lips forcefully.

Stefan pulled the hybrid closer, raking his blunt nails down the blonde's back hard enough to break skin. He broke away panting as Klaus began to lift him off the ground. "I'm still fucking angry with you," he spat, before pulling the hybrid back in.

Was this what it would always be like between them?

Yeah, that was another question that didn't need answering.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** So yeah, this is the end and Jesus H. Christ, please tell me you didn't absolutely abhorr it.

Thanks so much to all of you, every single person who reviewed, you brightened up my day and I love you for it.


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